ICOA to Acquire WiSE Technologies
April 21 2005 - 10:27AM
PR Newswire (US)
ICOA to Acquire WiSE Technologies Deal to Expand ICOA's Footprint
and Open New Market Segments WARWICK, R.I., April 21
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ICOA, Inc. (OTC:ICOA) (BULLETIN BOARD:
ICOA) , a national provider of wireless broadband Internet networks
and managed services in airports, restaurants, marinas and hot
zones, announced today it has agreed to acquire WiSE Technologies,
Inc., a privately held Landover, Maryland provider of Wi-Fi
services to airports, hospitality, higher education, multiple
dwelling units (MDUs), highway plazas and cafes. The closing of the
transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is
expected within the second quarter of 2005. WiSE Technologies'
national footprint includes broadband wireless and wired/kiosk
public Internet access in twelve airports, five higher education
campuses, three large apartment complexes (MDUs) and over thirty
additional high-traffic public locations including hotels, cafes,
marinas and highway plazas. The university campus services are
provided under an umbrella agreement between WiSE and the Higher
Education Wireless Access Consortium. All WiSE locations will be
integrated into ICOA's existing systems, providing significant
operational savings. Rick Schiffmann, ICOA's CEO, said, "We believe
that WiSE Technologies' national network, customer base and
business models fit well with our core businesses, add three new
and promising verticals in higher education, MDUs and highway
plazas to ICOA's portfolio and positions ICOA with a robust base of
locations in the mid-Atlantic region." ICOA's management team will
be strengthened with the addition of two WiSE executives. Gary
Murray, II, founder and President of WiSE, will join ICOA to focus
on new business opportunities, enhancing ICOA's strategic
partnerships and increasing network customer utilization. Najib
Kabbani, WiSE Executive Vice President, will focus on expanding the
higher education segment, among other duties. Murray said, "We are
excited to be a part of the ICOA family of companies and
world-class team and look forward to adding value for ICOA's
shareholders." About WiSE Technologies WiSE Technologies is a
Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP). Through Wireless LAN
(Local Area Network) technology, WiSE provides wireless internet
access to the general public through hot spots known as "WiSE
Zones," located strategically in such places as airports, cafes,
educational institutions and conference centers. For more
information, please visit http://www.wisezone.net/ . About ICOA,
Inc. ICOA, Inc. is a national provider of neutral-host wireless and
wired broadband Internet networks in high-traffic public locations.
ICOA 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, hospitality and hot zone
locations. ICOA owns or operates over 1,000 broadband access
installations in high-traffic locations across 44 states. For
additional information, visit http://www.icoacorp.com/ . An
investment profile about ICOA may be found online at
http://www.hawkassociates.com/icoa/profile.htm For more
information, contact Frank Hawkins or Julie Marshall, Hawk
Associates, at (305) 852-2383, e-mail: . Detailed information about
ICOA, Inc. can be found on the website http://www.icoacorp.com/ .
An online investor kit containing ICOA press releases, SEC filings,
current Level II price quotes, interactive Java stock charts and
other useful information for investors can be found at
http://www.hawkassociates.com/ and http://www.hawkmicrocaps.com/ .
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.
DATASOURCE: ICOA, Inc. CONTACT: Frank Hawkins or Julie Marshall,
both of Hawk Associates, +1-305-852-2383, or , for ICOA Web site:
http://www.icoacorp.com/
http://www.hawkassociates.com/icoa/profile.htm
http://www.hawkassociates.com/ http://www.hawkmicrocaps.com/
http://www.wisezone.net/
Copyright