WARWICK, Rhode Island , Dec. 18, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- ICOA, Inc., (OTCBB:ICOA), today announced it has completed the purchase of Airport Network Solutions Inc., a private corporation that designs and manages Wi-Fi solutions for the North American airport industry. ANS is a leader in developing innovative revenue sharing business models for Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) or WLANs (Wireless Local Area Networks) and in designing solutions that enable airports across the country to provide cost effective 802.11x wireless access to public and private customers.
ICOA is leveraging ANS' strong relationships with airport authorities and its track record for designing superior Wi-Fi solutions to expand the company's Public Wireless LAN footprint at North American airport locations.
"We have become a major Wi-Fi service provider to North American airports," stated George Strouthopoulos, CEO of ICOA. "Additionally, we can leverage our service and support organizations including our Network Operations Center (NOC), call center, credit card processing and billing systems. These integrations will result in significant cost savings," he elaborated.
"This is a great move for ANS," commented Rick Schiffmann, President of ANS, "because it will allow us to grow rapidly in the Airport footprint by utilizing ICOA's corporate and technical infrastructure."
ANS deployed the Wi-Fi service at Sacramento International Airport (SMF) and is now in the process of designing and installing WLANs at several other airports in the US. At SMF, ANS designed the Wi-Fi system to be available throughout all public and private areas. ANS' revenue sharing approach to fund the deployment of Wi-Fi systems is very appealing to airport managers. When Steve Elrod, Deputy Director of Information Technology and Telecommunications for Sacramento International Airport, announced the new Wi-Fi network last August, he was quoted in the Airport's newsletter as stating, "We believe we are the first airport to have set up the system in an owner/operator model." This means that the airport owns the wireless devices, and then chooses which company it would like to provide the support services. Currently, ANS is in negotiations with major wireless service providers and aggregators to allow their subscribers to `roam' onto the system.
ANS, under the leadership of founders Schiffman and Vice President, Pam Brown, will continue to operate under its current name and will manage all ICOA Wi-Fi airport relationships and installations, including ICOA's existing Wi-Fi network in Baton Rouge (BTR). ANS provides complete 'Open Access' Wi-Fi network support and allows airports to own and offer airport-branded WLAN access directly to passengers and customers within their facilities.
About ICOA
ICOA, Inc., www.icoacorp.com located in Warwick, RI, is a provider of Public Broadband Internet Access. The company operates private networks of high-speed Internet Terminals (WebCenter3000TM), and Wi-Fi Hot Spots, in over 180 locations nationwide. ICOA operates in the most sought after public locations - airports, hotels, marinas, transportation and conference centers. The Company provides fully managed broadband internet access allowing services including: e-mail, e-fax and telephony; business services including printing; e-commerce; and 'venue specific' advertising. ICOA currently operates or manages installations at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), the Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana Airport (BTR), Rhode Island's Newport Harbor 'Hot Zone', several prestigious Hotels and 100+ Panera Bread (Nasdaq:PNRA) (www.panerabread.com) locations.
'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.