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NEC installs prepay film and phone service for Travelodge
NEC UK has secured a deal, worth an estimated £3m turnover per year, to install a low cost Pay TV and telephone service across Britain's Travelodge outlets.
The service, known as Creditvision, combines a telephone service for both voice and Internet traffic and in-room movie delivery technology. It allows Travelodge customers to prepay for films and calls using a swipe card or Credit Card facility available on the new hotel phones.
The Creditvision service is undergoing trials, which will run until October 2002, at 19 Travelodge sites. NEC then plans to install Creditvision in all 227 UK Travelodges, totalling over 13,000 rooms, by winter 2003.
NEC says by employing an automated, cashless pre-payment system, Creditvision is able to keep overall costs down and offer guests films and calls at half the price charged by 'pay-on-departure' hotels. Films will initially cost from £3.50, the same price as a home video rental service, and calls are charged from 14p per minute.
Jonathan Rigg, business manager of NEC UK Corporate Network Solutions, says the service is a major innovation in the hotel sector: 'We've taken a traditionally 'high-end' service like films and made it easily accessible and affordable for Travelodge customers across the country.'
Travelodge's managing director, Simon Turl said the feedback from guests at the trial sites has been positive: 'We look forward to rolling the service out across the whole estate.' Details: www.creditcall.com.