ARESCOM Unveils 1st Wireless Video On Demand (VOD) Set-Top Box For Guestroom TVS

Wireless Digital GatewayTM to be spotlighted at Booth 428 of the Hospitality Industry Technology Exhibition & Conference (HITEC), June 24-26 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

FREMONT, CALIF. / FAIRFIELD, N.J. - JUNE 19, 2003 -- ARESCOM INC., a leading provider of wired and wireless (802.11b Wi-Fi) High Speed Internet Access to hundreds of hotels from coast to coast, has developed a wired/wireless Set Top Box for its in-room CinemagicSM Video on Demand (VoD) solution. Cinemagic - which delivers hundreds of DVD-qualities movies with rewind, pause and fast-forward capabilities - previously was only accessible via laptops for the estimated 75 percent of business travelers that take their electronic notebooks on the road with them.

Dave Egan, Vice President of Marketing for Fremont-based ARESCOM, said the company's new Wireless Digital GatewayTM VoD Set Top Box utilizes the Windows Media PlayerTM format, and is wireless for location independence, low cost and easy set-up requiring no additional cabling in guest rooms or residences. The Wireless Digital Gateway comes complete with wireless access, USB port for gaming , and S-Video, RCA and RF output capabilities. In addition, the Set Top Box includes an Ethernet connection for implementation in traditional VoD environments.

'Give 'em what they want'
ARESCOM recently partnered with a leading movie distributor to help properties create unique stays for strengthened guest loyalty, while tapping into a significant new risk-free revenue stream. The first alliance of its kind in the hospitality industry, this partnership allows hotels to receive both HSIA and VoD free of installation or maintenance charges, or common related billing and support headaches. The rapidly growing ARESCOM Hospitality Network (AHN) couples its popular free-to-property wired and wireless HSIA offerings, backed by Automatic Guest Billing and 24/7/365 professional phone support, with the new Wireless Digital Gateway VoD technology and the latest movies. Guests are able to access a wide range of content through the ARESCOM Cinemagic Video on Demand service, providing users instant access to a larger selection of titles than traditional hotel-based VoD services. All films are available in Windows Media Streaming formats and are delivered directly from local hotel servers, thus ensuring an optimal user experience. Egan said times are tough - so it's imperative that hotels give guests what they want.

"Hoteliers know exactly what they can do to set themselves apart and the proven bottom-line value of adding wired and wireless High Speed Internet Access and Video on Demand solutions simultaneously. However, for many owner/operators and management companies it's a Catch-22," Egan said. "The paradox is that typically hotels need a large amount of cash to offer such amenities, and they really need these types of differentiating, money-making technologies to drive room revenues and cashflow. "The ARESCOM Wireless Digital Gateway combines the latest in video streaming technology, operating environments, and wireless communications - providing our customers with the most flexible VoD solution available in the market today," he said. "Available immediately for deployment in hotels, convention centers, and residential applications, the Wireless Digital Gateway can come as part of our bundled free-to-hotel HSIA revenue-sharing solution or be purchases as a stand-alone system."

About ARESCOM Inc.
Founded in the Silicon Valley in 1996, ARESCOM designs, manufactures and markets a comprehensive line of broadband access solutions, ranging from the most sophisticated turnkey wired and wireless High Speed Internet Access solutions for the booming worldwide hospitality market, to state-of-the-art DSL and wireless solutions for homes and small businesses. ARESCOM's DSL broadband access equipment is widely deployed by hundreds of hotels, as well as major telecommunication carriers, REITs, ISPs and SOHOs throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe. Because ARESCOM alone designs and manufactures its own HSIA equipment and installs and supports it 24/7/365 for hotel owner/operators, the company is fast becoming hospitality's HSIA supplier of choice. The ARESCOM Hospitality Network (AHN) is on pace to deploy ARESCOM's proven plug-and-play wired and secure wireless HSIA - as well as its Wireless Digital GatewayTM and CineMagicTM Video-on-Demand solutions showing DVD-quality movies on laptops and TV sets with pause, rewind and fast-forward capabilities - in 1,000 hotels across the nation by the close of 2004. For more information on the company, please visit www.arescom.com.

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