Spokane International Airport (GEG) Launches Wi-Fi Service With ICOA's Neutral Host Solution
June 16 2004 - 9:01AM
PR Newswire (US)
Spokane International Airport (GEG) Launches Wi-Fi Service With
ICOA's Neutral Host Solution ICOA Now Serves 6 Airports and 20
Million Passengers SPOKANE, Wash., and WARWICK, R.I., June 16
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spokane International Airport (GEG) and
Airport Network Solutions (ANS), a subsidiary of ICOA, Inc.
(OTC:ICOA) (BULLETIN BOARD: ICOA) , announced today the unveiling
of a new "Neutral Host" high speed broadband wireless network
throughout the entire airport, serving GEG's nearly 3 million
passengers per year as well as airlines and other airport tenants.
The new neutral host high speed broadband wireless Internet network
offers passengers at GEG secure, affordable and convenient wireless
Internet access from anywhere in the terminal, and will provide
WLAN services for airport administration and operations functions,
airlines and airport concessionaires. Service for the first month,
through July 16, 2004, will be free. With the deployment of GEG,
ICOA's Airport Network Solutions now serves 20 million airport
passengers per year through airport-wide neutral host Wi-Fi
networks located in: Greater Baton Rouge Louisiana Airport (BTR),
Manchester Airport (MHT), Savannah/Hilton Head International
Airport (SAV), Fresno-Yosemite International Airport (FYI) and
Sacramento International Airport (SMF). "We are excited to partner
with ANS to offer high-speed wireless Internet access for our
airline passengers at Spokane International Airport," said John G.
Morrison, CEO/Executive Director. "GEG is committed to providing
outstanding customer service and cost effective services which
improve productivity, reduce costs and enhance our passenger's
travel experience. The addition of public wireless Internet access
is a natural extension of this continuing commitment and an
exciting new service for our passengers, vendors and tenants."
Following the first free month, passengers with Wi-Fi enabled
laptops or PDAs can connect to the Internet to check their e-mail,
access their corporate servers, download important documents and
surf the Web, with unlimited access from anywhere in the airport
for only $6.95 per day. Airport information such as flight
schedules, ground transportation information, passenger services
and security bulletins can also be accessed at no charge. The new
public wireless Internet service is available throughout the entire
terminal and does not require users to install or use proprietary
software. As a 'neutral host' network, the Spokane International
Airport/ANS solution will also allow subscribers of branded
services access to the network through access agreements with ANS.
"With the launch of Spokane as our sixth airport, ANS has moved
beyond our proof-of-concept stage to become a major airport Wi-Fi
network provider," said Rick Schiffmann, CEO of ICOA's ANS
subsidiary. "Our airport-wide approach makes it more convenient for
passengers to connect instantly in all public areas of the airport
rather than having to 'sniff out' limited hotspots and allows the
airport authority to cost-effectively offer and manage WLAN
services to all tenants." The new Wi-Fi infrastructure was
designed, deployed and managed by ICOA's subsidiary ANS under an
exclusive agreement with GEG utilizing 802.11 based equipment
provided by local manufacturer Vivato. About Spokane International
Airport (GEG) Spokane International Airport is a 4,753-acre
commercial service airport served by ten airlines and three air
cargo carriers. The passenger airlines provide 70 daily departures
to 16 major destinations. GEG processed 2.8 million passengers and
54,277 U.S. air cargo tons in 2003. Through April 2004, GEG has
handled 908,737 total passengers; an 8.00 percent increase over
2003's 841,407. The airport's year-to-date percentage of increase
exceeds the nation's 5.7 percentage of growth for the same time
period. GEG is the second largest airport in the State of
Washington and recognized by the FAA as a small hub. GEG is jointly
owned by Spokane County and the City of Spokane. The city and
county operate the airports under provisions of RCW 14.08, which
establishes the operation of airports by more than one municipality
under joint agreement. GEG's operating authority is the Spokane
Airport Board (the Board), consisting of seven appointees from the
two governmental bodies. The Board was formed in 1962 and has
operated GEG since that time. The airport is operated and
maintained solely by revenues derived from rents and fees generated
on the facilities. It does not receive appropriated tax dollars
from any level of government. The geographic area served by GEG is
all of what is known as the Pacific Inland Northwest, including
Eastern Washington, Northern Idaho, Western Montana and portions of
Southern British Columbia and Alberta. 1.7 million people reside in
this market area. For more information, please visit:
http://www.spokaneairports.net/ . 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.
Airport Network Solutions, a subsidiary of ICOA, Inc, provides
design, installation, operations, maintenance and management of
neutral, common-use 802.11x standard WLAN (or Wi-Fi) infrastructure
throughout airport facilities for use by the traveling public,
airlines and airport authority vendors. ICOA also owns and operates
private networks of Wi-Fi Hot Spots, Wi-Fi Hot Zones, and High
Speed Internet Terminals (WebCenter3000(TM)). ICOA currently
operates or manages over 330 installations, including 250 Panera
Bread locations, the San Francisco International Airport (SFO),
Spokane International Airport (GEG, Manchester Airport (MHT), the
Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana Airport (BTR), Sacramento
International Airport (SMF), Savannah/Hilton Head International
Airport (SAV), Fresno-Yosemite International Airport (FYI) and
Rhode Island's Newport Harbor 'Hot Zone'. For additional
information, please visit http://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. DATASOURCE: Spokane
International Airport; ICOA, Inc. CONTACT: Todd S. Woodard of
Spokane International Airport, +1-509-455-6470, or mobile:
+1-509-998-7265, ; or John K. Balbach of ICOA, Inc, mobile:
+1-415-999-1468, Web site: http://www.icoacorp.com/
http://www.spokaneairports.net/
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