TelePresence Provides the Experience of in-Person Meetings With Participants in Locations Around the World

SINGAPORE and WHITE PLAINS, New York, June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:HOT) and Tata Communications, a leading provider of the new world of communications, today announced a partnership agreement as part of an ambitious plan to roll out public Telepresence rooms worldwide.

The agreement will significantly increase Tata Communications' network of public Cisco TelePresence rooms with 10 new facilities opening in Starwood hotels by the end of 2009. The first telepresence suites are planned for Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers, Sheraton on the Park in Sydney, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, The Westin Los Angeles Airport and W Chicago-City Center. Looking ahead, Starwood anticipates expanding the offering to hotels in key international business markets like Brussels, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. Tata Communications Telepresence Service will provide Starwood and its guests an 'in person' meeting experience with participants in rooms around the world.

'We believe that public telepresence rooms are the key to increasing the accessibility of telepresence beyond major company offices to their wider ecosystem of users - customers, suppliers, remote workers and business partners. Using managed telepresence services is 'better than being there' and helps companies hold more productive meetings without incurring travel and time costs. More team members can participate in meetings and collaborate around the world,' said John Landau, Senior Vice President Global Managed Services from Tata Communications.

'We intend to make telepresence available to as many users as possible with our global network of public telepresence rooms and our suite of managed telepresence networks services for businesses. Our partnership with Starwood is a major step towards making this vision a reality,' added Landau.

'Starwood has made a name for itself as an innovator in the hotel industry, and it is crucial that we continue to evolve our meetings offerings to address the needs of today's consumers,' said Christie Hicks, Senior Vice President of Global Sales for Starwood. 'The partnership with Tata Communications is yet another opportunity for us to bring innovative, cutting-edge technology to our properties, and add true value for our business and conference facilities' guests.'

'With global companies under increasing pressure to foster productivity at the least cost, the need for public telepresence rooms is greater than ever. Telepresence that is available on a per use basis enables affordable, high quality communication for the small and medium business or remote/regional office worker. Because of the decentralized nature of business today, without public room deployments, telepresence can never achieve the critical mass needed to realize the full potential of this exciting video technology.