ICOA Expands Wi-Fi Presence in Airports Nationwide; ICOA, Inc. Announces Letter of Intent to Acquire Airport Network Solutions
ICOA, Inc. (OTC.BB:ICOA), today announced a Letter of
Intent to acquire Airport Network Solutions (ANS), a privately held
provider of Wi-Fi solutions to the airport industry, head-quartered in
San Francisco, California.
ANS currently operates the Wi-Fi network throughout Sacramento
International Airport (SMF). Under the terms of this agreement,
Airport Network Solutions will operate as a subsidiary of ICOA and
will manage all Wi-Fi airport relationships and installations. ANS
will also assume management of ICOA's existing airport Wi-Fi network
in Baton Rouge (BTR). With these two airports deployed, ICOA will
offer Wi-Fi service to almost 10 million airport passengers per year.
"Airports are premium locations in which frequent business
travelers are willing to pay for High-Speed Internet connectivity. We
believe that airports are the beachfront property of the Wi-Fi
revolution," said George Strouthopoulos, CEO of ICOA. He added, "ANS
is a tremendous acquisition for us. Their management team brings
extensive experience and understanding of the airport industry. ANS
has a reputation for creating and providing solutions that generate
revenue and meet the needs of airport management and passengers."
"The synergies between ICOA and ANS are clear. Instead of having
redundant sales, service and support organizations, we can work
together to offer both wired and wireless access to the traveling
public in airports," said Rick Schiffmann, CEO of ANS. "At the
majority of airport Hot Spots, ANS will seek to supplement Wi-Fi
Access with Internet Terminals for users who do not carry laptop
computers or PDAs."
"ANS fits with ICOA's stated mission of providing Wi-Fi Access
wherever we have Internet Terminals; and Internet Terminals, wherever
we have Wi-Fi Access. Both services can share Internet connectivity,
national network infrastructure, ICOA's Network Operations Center
(NOC), and our call center, as well as, credit card validation,
transaction and billing systems. Synergies between the two services
should greatly enhance ICOA's profitability," added ICOA's Director of
Operations, Wil Ankerstjerne.
ICOA and ANS both handle transactional 'pay-as-you-go' users and
are opening up their Hot Spots to subscribers of major carriers like
Sprint PCS (NYSE:PCS), AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE) and others. By being
'open' ICOA and ANS will increase Wi-Fi usage and airport revenue.
About Airport Network Solutions (ANS)
www.airportnetworksolutions.com.
ANS is a Wi-Fi solutions provider currently focused on the North
American airport industry, providing 802.11x wireless access to public
and private customers.
ANS currently operates a single, common-use Wi-Fi network
throughout Sacramento International Airport (SMF), in the state
capital of California, and is working with other North American
airports on additional Wi-Fi contracts. Its management team has strong
relationships throughout the airport industry and a proven track
record for Wi-Fi systems design and installation.
About ICOA
ICOA, Inc., located in Warwick, RI, is a provider of Public
Broadband Internet Access. The company operates private networks of
high-speed Internet Terminals (WebCenter3000(TM)), 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', 100+ Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) locations and
several prestigious Hotels.
'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.
AI
