BT & FON aim to make the world one big WiFi community

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 04 October 2007 16:09

Your IT - Home IT

The secure open WiFi solution was developed by FON and BT's research labs. BT has invested in FON as part of the tie-in, joining Google, Skype, Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital. BT will also have a seat on the board of FON.

FON's system relies on its 'La Fonera' routers that have been designed to enable its members, dubbed 'Foneros', to share their home Internet access in a secure manner. Foneros can also offer access to 'non-Foneros' and earn money. Every time a non-Fonero detects their WiFi signal and logs on FON charges then a fee and pays 50 percent of the net revenue to the owner of that access point.

FON was founded in February 2006 in Madrid. A very similar service has been launched by New Zealand company Tomizone.   It too has global ambitions, presently unrealised. However it is not clear whether Tomizone's, or FON's, modus operandi would be legal in Australia: providing a public access communications link generally requires a carrier licence.