The MoPR Blog

Billing itself as the “largest Wi-Fi community in the world,” Madrid-based FON is aiming to leverage the social networking trend to create an army of FONeros, members of the FON community who are willing to open their Wi-Fi access point for use by the rest of the community.

To become a FONero you need what they call a FON Social Router; essentially a router with FON’s software. You can either download their software to your router, or purchase a special FON pre-configured router, currently selling for a promotional rate of $5. When you become a FONero, you are opening up your connection to the rest of the community, and in return you get access on any of the other access points in the community (thousands, all over the world) for free.

There are several user models described by the company:

Linuses: Linuses have broadband connections with a FON Social Router at home. Linuses roam all other Wi-Fi Access Points within the FON Community for free.

Bills: Bills are members of the FON Community too, but instead of roaming, Bills are like FON’s travel agents. They receive 50% of the net revenues from those who purchase FON Passes through the Bill’s FON Access Point. Bills also join FON because they like to advertise their products and services in their neighborhoods. FON gives them all the tools to personalize their Access Point and sign-in page.

Aliens: Aliens are not members of the FON Community, but still can use the FON network for a fee. Aliens using laptop computers or similar devices are permitted to access any FON Access Point by purchasing daily FON passes. The standard rate for these FON passes is currently $3 for a 24 hour connection period. FON passes are similar to pre-paid cards. Aliens pre-purchase these FON passes and then use them to connect to the Internet freely.

In late June, FON added enhanced features that play to the social networking phenomenon, including the addition of a FONero “User Zone” where community members can get interesting information in real time about their usage history (in the form of a FON Travel Log) and the use of their access point by others. FONeros will also be able to direct the FONeros using their access points to a certain blog or Web site, and can even leave personal greetings or messages for users.

Some big names in the tech space are paying close attention to FON’s efforts – including the likes of Google and Skype who invested in the company during its recent $21 million funding round led by Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital.

SiliconBeat covered the FON funding news, and Om Malik commented on FON’s potential, including insights from Wi-Fi Pundit Glenn Fleishman. Glenn’s own news site, Wi-Fi Net News, provides an incredibly in-depth and informed article about FON’s goals and the hurdles it faces.

From a PR perspective, FON is a dream client for MobilityPR – Right up our PR alley! Yes, they’ve got their work cut out for them, facing an uphill battle as they strive to sign agreements with the ISPs and convince users to sign up to create the density of locations necessary for solid coverage. But as Glenn points out from his interview with FON founder, Martin Varsavsky, the company isn’t focused on the enterprise users toting laptops but rather is focused on building a community to connect cell phones, game consoles and cameras with Wi-Fi embedded, and that (in my humble opinion) is as interesting as it gets in terms of mobility and connectivity. As PR professionals we long for clients with the exact mix FON has - - an exciting market challenge, the David vs. Goliath battle, a little bit of controversy, big name backers, solid and articulate spokespersons, and ultimately an opportunity to change the entire game.

The MoPR team would love to hear your thoughts on FON as well. Will you sign up? Why or why not? Would you opt to be a Linus or a Bill? Can this work?? Chime in with your 2-cents today…

NOTE: Other Wi-Fi bandwidth sharing ventures include: WiFree, SOHOWireless, and Wibiki.

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 10th, 2006 at 4:23 pm and is filed under Mobility, Mobility Public Relations, Public Relations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.