LodgeNet Broadband Continues Momentum with DOCOMO FREEDOM Installations at New Castle Properties

SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- LodgeNet Interactive Corporation (NASDAQ: LNET - News), the leading provider of interactive media and connectivity services to hospitality and healthcare businesses and the consumers they serve, and New Castle Hotels & Resorts, an independent hotel owner, today announced that LodgeNet Broadband has installed the DOCOMO FREEDOM Internet solution at hotels in the New Castle portfolio.

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The FREEDOM installations offer guests of the Sheraton Tarrytown (NY) and the Racine (WI) Marriott a superior Internet experience on their laptop, smartphone or tablet device, with content optimized for each screen and the ability to support up to five Internet-connected devices per guest. The experience is further streamlined by the platform's resident device recognition capability, which allows the server to automatically recognize which device is being used.

Benefits to the installed hotels include the flexibility to offer tiered bandwidth pricing (free for basic connectivity or fee-based with higher fees for greater speeds), supported by a robust management toolset that allows bandwidth to be capped at specific speeds by user, group or location and protects the network from being dominated by a single user or user group.

"Facing an ever increasing demand for bandwidth, the growing number of multiple-device users and established guest expectations for free Internet access, we turned to LodgeNet and the FREEDOM Internet platform," said Gerry Chase, President and COO for New Castle Hotels & Resorts. "FREEDOM allows our hotels to offer a baseline level of complimentary Internet access as well as higher-speed pay options, the revenues from which will help us recover some of the circuit costs that have been driven higher by escalating bandwidth requirements. The ability to deliver a quality user experience across all of the most common devices is also a tremendous benefit from a guest satisfaction standpoint." 

"The laptop is no longer the only user device that hotels need to accommodate," said Steve Pofahl, Senior Vice President/General Manager for LodgeNet Broadband. "With today's travelers commonly carrying more than one Internet connected device, it is crucial that a hotel's broadband service not only supports seamless switching between the guest's devices, but also allows the hotel to price the service at various levels depending on guests' needs. With the DOCOMO FREEDOM solution we are able to offer all of that and more." 

LodgeNet is the exclusive U.S. hotel reseller of the DOCOMO FREEDOM solution, which received a 2011 HOT (Hospitality Operations Technology) Award as best-in-class Internet service from Casino Enterprise Management magazine.

About New Castle Hotels & Resorts
New Castle Hotels & Resorts is an independent owner, operator, third-party manager and turnaround specialist, with distinctive hotels and resort properties in the United States and Canada. Through four economic cycles, New Castle has a proven record of industry leadership in RevPAR index, operating margins and associate and guest satisfaction.

About LodgeNet
LodgeNet Interactive Corporation is the leading provider of interactive media and connectivity services to hospitality and healthcare businesses and the consumers they serve. Recently named by Advertising Age as one of the Leading 100 US Media Companies, LodgeNet Interactive serves approximately 1.7 million hotel rooms worldwide in addition to healthcare facilities throughout the United States. The Company's services include: Interactive Television, Broadband and Advertising Media Solutions along with nationwide technical and professional support services. LodgeNet Interactive Corporation owns and operates businesses under the industry leading brands: LodgeNet, The Hotel Networks and LodgeNet Healthcare. LodgeNet Interactive is listed on NASDAQ and trades under the symbol LNET. For more information, please visit http://www.lodgenet.com. 

LodgeNet and the LodgeNet logo are registered trademarks of LodgeNet Interactive Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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LodgeNet Broadband Continues Momentum with DOCOMO FREEDOM Installations at New Castle Properties