The Sound Hotel Seattle Belltown Adds Private Wireless from Comcast Business to its List of Amenities

Comcast Business announced its customer, The Sound Hotel Seattle Belltown, is providing guests with a bespoke, of-the-moment experience with private wireless network technology thanks to a collaboration by Comcast Business and Ballast Networks.

Situated in one of Seattle’s most vibrant neighborhoods, The Sound Hotel features 142 exquisitely designed rooms and provides guests easy access to the city’s most iconic landmarks and attractions for a truly unforgettable experience. To improve their guests’ experience, the property recognized the need to upgrade its network to better meet the needs of its guests and align with its mission to serve, inspire, and deliver its spirit of hospitality greatness.

“Comcast continues to evolve its wireless platform and to target new wireless business opportunities by leveraging its more than 34M customer relationships, deep fiber network, licensed wireless spectrum and over 20M WiFi hotspots,” said Filip Liharik, Vice President of Wireless Strategy and Product Planning at Comcast. “We are excited to develop and offer new wireless products and services to our existing and future customers.”

Working with Comcast Business, The Sound Hotel and Ballast Networks deployed a private wireless network primarily to support cellular voice and data connectivity throughout the property. In addition to the enhanced wireless experience, the private network also enables The Sound Hotel to deploy several new services that enhance the guest and employee experience, including:

• Wireless sensors that allow the hotel to monitor temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors
• Single network for staff communications, freeing up capacity for guest communications and entertainment
• Efficient deployment of new video surveillance solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

“The Sound Hotel blends Seattle’s creative bedrock with its innovation boom. We strive to provide our guests with a truly unforgettable experience – and connectivity is central to that,” said Barry Baxter, General Manager, The Sound Hotel. “Now, by upgrading our technology backbone to a next-generation 5G private wireless network, we can provide our guests a great, modern experience that matches the essence of Seattle.”

Private wireless networks offer wireless broadband speed and capacity with reliability and low latency, enabling businesses like The Sound Hotel to support their rapidly expanding ecosystem of connected devices. Comcast Business’s private wireless solution adds to its robust networking capabilities while giving clients more wireless options, including DeepBlue for advanced, large-scale WiFi deployments and MachineQ for long-range, low-power, and large-scale IoT solutions.

“Ballast is excited to partner with Comcast and the Sound Hotel to deliver a brand new, connected experience for the guests and employees of this beautiful boutique hotel in the heart of Seattle,” said Jon Morris, CEO, Ballast Networks.

At the Sound Hotel, Comcast Business and Ballast Networks are using both General Authorized Access (GAA) unlicensed spectrum and Comcast’s Priority Access Licenses (PALs) spectrum to create a private network enabled with a multi-operator core network (MOCN) gateway. This new technology enables the private network to serve as a neutral host network capable of extending wireless coverage for all mobile service providers through a single system.

“A solid technology infrastructure and strong network are critical to supporting the features and functions that enable a better experience throughout a guest’s hotel stay, from booking to the memories they carry with them from their trip after checking out,” said Brian Epstein, head of strategic wireless solutions, Comcast Business. “Comcast Business is proud to work with The Sound Hotel to propel a first-class wireless – and hospitality – experience.”