Consolidating Operators
ICOA purchasing IMG
December 16, 2003 08:08
ICOA Expands Presence at Logan Airport, Boston and 70 New Hospitality Locations; ICOA Inc. Signs LOI to Acquire Internet Media Group
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WARWICK, R.I., Dec 16, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- ICOA Inc. (OTC.BB:ICOA - News), today announced a Letter of Intent to purchase Internet Media Group Inc. (IMG), a privately held owner-operator of high speed Internet Kiosks, headquartered in Massachusetts.
IMG currently operates the Kiosks at: Airports - Massport's Boston Logan International and Worcester Regional Airport; Hospitality locations - multiple hotels, resorts in the Disney World area, Florida; and at hostels nationwide under an agreement with Hostelling International. Under the terms of the LOI, IMG, Inc. is being acquired by ICOA, who will operate, expand and promote IMG's locations. With IMG's 20 Internet Kiosks at Boston Logan International Airport and ICOA's installed base of 63 Internet Terminals in San Francisco International, and four in Greater Baton Rouge Airport, LA, ICOA will now offer Public Broadband Internet service to over 55 million airport passengers per year.
According to Summit Research Associates' recent Kiosk report "Airport gate areas ...as well as hotel lobbies, are areas where units can be installed with considerable profit potential." Frost and Sullivan research estimates the "interactive kiosk market will grow at 24 percent per year through 2006."
"IMG fits with ICOA's stated mission of providing Public Broadband Internet Access for travelers who do not carry their own laptop computers or PDAs. Wherever practicable, we plan to supplement the Kiosk Internet Access with Ethernet connections and Wi-Fi Hot Spots for Laptop and PDA users," noted ICOA's CEO, George Strouthopoulos. "Both services can share Internet connectivity, ICOA's national network infrastructure, Network Operations Center customer support center, as well as credit card validation, transaction and billing systems," he continued.
"IMG has chosen to become part of ICOA because it has an established network infrastructure and the resources to grow the business to the next level," commented Jim Castellano, IMG's Founder and President. "I am excited about joining ICOA's experienced management team, so that ICOA and IMG can now share economies of scale to significantly increase overall profitability and capitalize on major new market opportunities," he added.
In parallel, ICOA is now deploying multiple new Wi-Fi Hot Spots in airports, leading hotels, marinas and fast casual restaurant chains. ICOA handles transactional 'pay-as-you-go' users at both Kiosk and Wi-Fi Hot Spot locations and plans "open access" at these Hot Spots for subscribers of major wireless carriers as well as Wi-Fi aggregators with roaming agreements. "By being 'open' we will generate a significant increase in traffic and revenue for ICOA and its partners." added George Strouthopoulos.
About Internet Media Group (IMG) www.imgkiosk.com.
IMG currently operates 84 kiosks, providing public Internet access to premium locations including Logan International Airport, and multiple nearby Boston Hotels, Worcester Regional Airport, multiple Hotels and Resorts around Disney World in Florida and Hostelling International nationwide.
About ICOA
ICOA, Inc., www.icoacorp.com 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', several prestigious Hotels and 100+ Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA - www.panerabread.com) locations.
'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.
SOURCE: ICOA, Inc.
ICOA, Inc.
Erwin Vahlsing, Jr., 401/739-920
Posted by Craig at December 16, 2003 03:25 PM