The blogosphere is going bananas about Fon, a start-up company that plans to create "a global network of shared Wi-Fi connections," mainly because its backers include Skype and Google as well as venture capital firms. It's just received $21.7 million in backing. According to The New York Times:
The service permits subscribers to modify their own routers so that users of Wi-Fi wireless technology can connect to the Internet at many physical locations, in contrast to the limited range of access that is often available now.
[Fon founder Martin Varsavsky] said the company would receive revenue from a multi-tiered subscription model, which would permit users to share their Wi-Fi access point with other Fon members freely or sell the service. The network is operating in Europe, and Mr. Varsavsky said that he planned to expand it into the United States and other countries this year.
The NYT article points out that other firms have tried similar things, including Boingo, but most have failed:
Joltage, a start-up firm in New York, was founded in 2003 and went out of business the following year. Cometa Networks, a San Francisco-based start-up with backing from I.B.M., Intel and AT&T, began in late 2002 and went out of business in May 2004.
But Skype could make the difference. According to Varsavsky: "The message will be, if you like Skype, Fon will enable it to be everywhere."
