ICOA SOARING ON HUGE NEWS
(COMTEX) B: ICOA Inc. Enters Wireless Broadband Market with Wi-Fi Hot Spot
B: ICOA Inc. Enters Wireless Broadband Market with Wi-Fi Hot Spots
WARWICK, R.I., Oct 7, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ICOA, Inc., (OTCBB:ICOA), today
announced its entry into the high growth Public Wi-Fi market. ICOA is expanding
its Public Broadband Internet Access business to deploy, operate and service
high speed Wi-Fi Hot Spots at high-traffic airport and hotel locations
nationwide.
Gartner Dataquest estimates there will be over 50,000 Public Hot Spots in North
America by 2004 with 17.5 million users by 2005. Worldwide, Gartner projects
160,000 Public Hot Spots by 2007, worth more than $9 billion, with more than 35
million users.
"Wi-Fi (is) a much faster-growing technology than cellular telephony" said Craig
R. Barrett, CEO, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) at a Sun Valley, ID conference last
July. Intel has committed $300 million in an advertising blitz, to promote its
new Wi-Fi enabled Centrino(TM) microchips.
"Wi-Fi is the logical extension of our core Public Broadband Internet Access
business" said George Strouthopoulos, CEO of ICOA. "For over 2 years we have
been providing high speed Internet connectivity to the Public in airports and
hotels with our Internet Terminal WebCenter3000(TM)."
ICOA is now deploying multiple new Hot Spots for airports, leading hotels, and
transportation hubs. The Company aims to have a large network of premium,
high-traffic Hot Spots throughout the US by the end of 2004.
At the majority of Hot Spots, ICOA will supplement Wi-Fi Access with Internet
Terminals for users who do not carry laptop computers or PDA's. "ICOA plans to
install Internet Terminals, wherever we provide Wi-Fi Access; and Wi-Fi Access,
wherever we have Internet Terminals", added ICOA's Director of Operations, Wil
Ankerstjerne. "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 greatly enhance ICOA's profitability".
ICOA handles transactional 'pay-as-you-go' users and opens up its Hot Spots to
subscribers of major carriers - Sprint PCS (NYSE:PCS), AT&T Wireless (NYSE:AWE)
and T-Mobile (NYSE:DT) as well as Wi-Fi aggregators such as iPass (NASDAQ:IPAS),
GRIC (NASDAQ:GRIC) and Boingo through roaming agreements. "ICOA is providing
interoperability, nationwide access and authentication to attract roaming
partners" added Strouthopoulos. "By being 'open' we will generate significant
increases in traffic and revenue for ICOA and its partners."
About Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi - short for "Wireless Fidelity" - is a short-range wireless technology
that makes it possible for portable computing devices to connect to the
Internet. Business users now routinely seek out Wi-Fi Internet connectivity at
public places called "Hot Spots" to access email and web sites on their laptop
computers. Hot Spots have sprung up at airports, hotels, and coffee shops. The
equipment is inexpensive and most new laptop computers and many PDA's are now
being shipped with integrated Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi technology conforms to an industry standard for wireless equipment -
published as 802.11(x) standards. Wi-Fi equipment operates today in unlicensed
spectrum - including the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.
About ICOA
ICOA, Inc., located in Warwick, RI, is a provider of Public Broadband Internet
Access. The company deploys private networks of high-speed Internet Terminals
(WebCenter3000(TM)), and Wi-Fi "Hot Spots". ICOA operates in the most sought |
