Expanding Wi-Fi firm adds 100th employee

MANCHESTER, NH (March 3, 2011) — Fast-growing Wi-Fi technology services company Single Digits Inc. will add its 100th employee this week and is opening its first office in Canada.

Single Digits has made the Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing privately- held firms for three years in a row.

Single Digits’ proprietary software offers Internet connectivity to guests in hotels and other public-access venues.

The company recently signed a lease in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is in the process of setting up a small office there.

Stephen A. Singlar, 39, president, co-founded Single Digits with its chief executive officer, Robert Goldstein, 38, in March 2003.

“We set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Canada,” Singlar said Thursday. “Single Digits Internet is our Canadian version.”

The Halifax office will have about 10 employees, including two being transferred from New Hampshire.

Single Digits, based at 749 East Industrial Park Drive, has a call center with 52 support service workers here.

As more travelers go beyond laptops to tablet computers and smartphones, demands on WiFi networks continue to grow, Singlar said.

“The (number) of devices connecting, per hotel, has quadrupled,” he said. “A lot of times our customers are asking us to upgrade network capacity,” he said.

About 65 to 75 percent of Single Digits’ customers are in the hospitality business.

Many resorts offer “free” Internet access, but Singlar said, “even if you perceive it as free, there is always an authentication to validate that you are a guest and have paid for the Internet access.” Single Digits provides the systems to make that validation and can also offer hotels the opportunity to offer enhanced services for a fee.

“In the next two years, 70 percent of traffic, especially in hotels, is going to be streaming video,” he said, noting the growth of services like Netflix and Hulu. “Hotels are charging a premium for that.”

“You could connect for free and get what’s called best effort, but for guaranteed high bandwidth, you have to pay,” Singlar said. “Our system offers the billing models to make that happen.”

Single Digits is privately funded and hasn’t sought venture capital, he said.

The firm is increasing its overall network capacity and adding data centers to host its software across the country.

It is now servicing customers in all 50 states, he said.