CISCO

SHANGHAI, China - September 16, 2010  -  The first in mainland China, eighth in the world, a studio for Virtual Meetings by Marriott with AT&T and Cisco TelePresence is now available to the public in Shanghai at JW Marriott Tomorrow Square, which is situated right in the centre of the city.  The Shanghai studio connects with seven other public Virtual Meetings by Marriott locations open around the world, as well as with other public Cisco TelePresence suites and more than 100 companies and organizations on the AT&T Business Exchange, AT&T's unique, multipoint, meet-me bridging capability.<br><br>

Located on the 5th floor together with the rest of the hotel's luxurious meeting facilities, the Virtual Meetings by Marriott studio at the JW Marriott Tomorrow Square is available 24 hours a day and is fully equipped with high-definition video, real time audio and interior design consistent with other virtual meetings studios, so that groups located thousands of miles apart can gather together in the same room across a virtual table in real time. The studio is available for rental by the hour at US$ 500 per location and by special arrangement for bulk use.<br><br>

"Located right in the heart of Shanghai city, JW Marriott Shanghai Tomorrow Square is proud to be home to Virtual Meetings by Marriott in mainland China. In collaboration with AT&T, SST and Cisco, this advanced technology allows us to touch and feel the realness of future meetings," said Michael Malik, General Manager of Marriott's flagship property, the JW Marriott Shanghai Tomorrow Square.<br><br>

"With the opening of Virtual Meetings studio in Shanghai, Marriott customers are able to experience an in-person meeting with multiple parties at the same time.  We are committed to providing customers with leading-edge solutions to transform the way they communicate and collaborate with their counterparts, customers and partners around the world," said Johnny Ng, AT&T Greater China general manager.<br><br>

"SST is delighted to engage in this collaboration with AT&T and Cisco. We look forward to providing the local network resources necessary to power Marriott Virtual Meetings studio and enable Marriott customers to take advantage of the latest technologies and experience reliable telecommunication services," said Samuel Qi, SST general manager.<br><br>

SST (Shanghai Symphony Telecom Co., Ltd.) was jointly invested by the China Telecom Corporation Limited, AT&T Corporation of the United States, and Shanghai Information Investment Inc. of the Shanghai Municipal government, which is China's first Sino-Foreign telecom service joint venture.<br><br>

"This collaboration with industry leaders Marriott and AT&T in the deployment of Cisco public TelePresence services underscore our commitment to bringing leading technologies to China's lodging industry and to discerning business travelers.  We are very pleased to be part of the team delivering innovative and differentiating premium services to the valuable guests of the hotel and bringing the vision of a global Cisco TelePresence network to reality," said Hanh Tu, Cisco vice president, Greater China Sales.<br><br>

Marriott is the first major global hotel company to offer Cisco TelePresence meeting options with AT&T in collaboration with Shanghai Symphony Telecom Co., Ltd. (SST), to its customers in locations worldwide. Plans call for expansion to 25 hotels around the world in the first phase.  The following hotels currently operate a Virtual Meetings by Marriott studio: JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square; New York Marriott East Side; Bethesda North Marriott Hotel; Renaissance Washington, DC; Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Marriott; JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong and Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel, London. Future studios are planned for Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway; Renaissance Sao Paulo, Brazil; JW Marriott Hotel Chicago; JW Marriott Marquis/ Beaux Arts, Miami, with more to follow.