ICOA Names Wireless Industry Veteran Rick Schiffmann President Charged With Leading Company's Rapid Growth WARWICK, R.I., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ICOA, Inc. (OTC:ICOA) (BULLETIN BOARD: ICOA) , a major provider of neutral-host broadband wireless Internet solutions in high traffic locations such as airports, marinas, restaurants and public hot zones, announced today the promotion of wireless industry veteran Rick Schiffmann to president. The appointment, effective immediately, was made known to the heads of all ICOA divisions during the company's annual strategy retreat. In making the announcement, CEO George Strouthopoulos said, "Rick's promotion from executive vice president to president is a significant step forward for ICOA and its shareholders as we strengthen our management team and continue our rapid growth in broadband services. Rick is one of the most savvy and capable people in the wireless industry today. He has experience in all aspects of broadband wireless in high-traffic public locations and has particular expertise in building revenue. He is charged with developing and executing our business growth strategy and we are confident that he will be successful." Schiffmann said, "ICOA has established a solid platform for rapid growth over the coming years. We intend to significantly enhance shareholder value by rapidly ramping revenues and scaling our emerging platform of services and infrastructure into our current verticals. As broadband wireless alters the telecommunications landscape, we also plan to open greenfield vertical opportunities and to pursue appropriate acquisition opportunities." Prior to joining ICOA as executive vice president, Schiffmann was founder and president of Airport Network Solutions (ANS), now a wholly owned ICOA subsidiary. At ANS, Schiffmann led the company's growth into six major regional airports serving over 20 million passengers annually. Prior to starting ANS, Schiffmann served as vice president of Cometa Networks, a wholesale broadband wireless venture with Intel, IBM and AT&T. Schiffmann gained much of his wireless and airport industry expertise with Aerzone, a subsidiary of SoftNet Systems, a pioneering wireless ISP that targeted frequent business travelers in public hot spots through the deployment of 802.11 infrastructure. As Aerzone's vice president of business development, Schiffmann was instrumental in bringing significant equity partners into the business. Schiffmann previously was a management consultant with Dove Consulting in their Consumer Broadband Group and with Coopers & Lybrand. Schiffmann has an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from Bates College. About ICOA, Inc. Headquartered in Warwick, RI, ICOA, Inc. is a leading 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 and hospitality locations, as well as high-speed Internet terminals (WebCenter3000(TM)). ICOA currently operates or manages over 445 installations serving more than 20 million patrons, including 400 Panera Bread locations, the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Spokane International Airport (GEG), the Greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana Airport (BTR), Sacramento International Airport (SMF), Manchester Airport (MHT), Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV), Fresno-Yosemite International Airport (FYI), Killeen Municipal Airport (GRK), 36 marinas in California and Virginia, and hot zones in Lexington, KY and Rhode Island's Newport Harbor. For additional information, please 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 John Balbach at 415-776-6695. For investor relations information, contact Frank Hawkins or Julie Marshall, Hawk Associates, at (305) 852-2383, email: . 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 price Level II 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: John Balbach of ICOA, Inc., +1-415-776-6695; or investors, Frank Hawkins or Julie Marshall, both of Hawk Associates, +1-305-852-2383, or , for ICOA, Inc. Web site: http://www.icoacorp.com/ http://www.hawkassociates.com/icoa/profile.htm http://www.hawkassociates.com/ http://www.hawkmicrocaps.com/

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