UPDATE: It seems the news of Google buying Wi-Fi player for ICOA for US$400m was incorrect. ICOA’s CFO has hotly denied any acquisition has taken place.
Today a press release on PRweb announced the acquisition of ICOA by Google. But it turns out this was false information. The false release stated Google made the acquisition to “further diversify its already impressive portfolio of companies.”
ICOA, which is headquartered in Warwick, Rhode Island, owns 1,500 hotspot locations across 45 states in America. It’s CFO Erwin Vahlsing told CNET that no acquisition discussions have taken place between ICOA and Google and said that the false information was probably disseminated by an opportunist.
Earlier this year Google launched Google Fiber to provide 1Gbps internet and TV services, beginning in Kansas City. In recent weeks Google struck with Boingo to provide more than 4,000 free Wi-Fi hotspots across the US.