WARWICK, R.I., Aug. 19, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- ICOA, Inc. (OTCBB:ICOA), a major provider of neutral-host broadband wireless Internet solutions in high traffic public locations such as airports, marinas and restaurants, announced today the strengthening of its senior management team with the appointment of Rick Schiffmann as Executive Vice President.
"Appointing Rick as Executive Vice President is a significant step forward for ICOA and its shareholders as we strengthen our management team and continue our rapid growth in broadband services," said George Strouthopoulos, ICOA president and CEO. "Rick has tremendous experience in all aspects of broadband wireless in high traffic public locations, with particular expertise in building revenue for growing companies. He is being charged with developing and implementing our business growth strategy and execution."
Prior to ICOA, Inc, Mr. Schiffmann was founder and president of Airport Network Solutions (ANS), now a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICOA, Inc. At ANS, Mr. Schiffmann led the company's growth into 6 major regional airports serving over 20 million passengers annually. Prior to the founding of ANS, Mr. Schiffmann served as Vice President of Cometa Networks, a wholesale broadband wireless venture with Intel, IBM and AT&T. Mr. Schiffmann gained much of his wireless and airport industry expertise while with Aerzone, a subsidiary of SoftNet Systems, a pioneering wireless ISP targeting frequent business travelers in public 'hot-spots' through the deployment of 802.11 infrastructure. As Vice President of Business Development for Aerzone, Mr. Schiffmann was instrumental in signing significant equity partners in the business. Prior to joining SoftNet, Mr. Schiffmann was a management consultant with Dove Consulting in their Consumer Broadband Group and with Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Schiffmann received his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from Bates College.
"ICOA has established a solid platform for rapid growth over the coming years," said Rick Schiffmann. "I look forward to the opportunity to significantly enhance shareholder value by rapidly ramping revenues, scaling our emerging platform of services and infrastructure into our current verticals, opening greenfield vertical opportunities as broadband wireless alters the telecommunications landscape and through highly-screened acquisition opportunities."
About ICOA, Inc.
ICOA, Inc., (OTCBB:ICOA) located in Warwick, RI, is a provider of neutral-host wireless and wired broadband Internet networks in public locations. ICOA, Inc. provides design, installation, operations, maintenance and management of neutral, common-use 802.11x standard WLAN Wi-Fi Hot Spot and Hot Zone infrastructure throughout airport facilities, quick service restaurants, marinas and hospitality locations, as well as high-speed Internet terminals (WebCenter3000(tm)). ICOA currently operates or manages over 410 installations, including 325 Panera Bread locations, the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Spokane International Airport (GEG), the Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana Airport (BTR), Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Manchester Airport (MHT), Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV), Fresno-Yosemite International Airport (FYI), 34 marinas in California and "Hot Zones" in Rhode Island's Newport Harbor and Boston's South Harbor. For additional information, please visit: (www.icoacorp.com).
Safe Harbor
The foregoing contains "forward-looking statements" which are based on management's beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events and information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside ICOA's control that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For a more detailed description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see ICOA's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ICOA disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This information is presented solely to provide additional information to further understand the results of ICOA.