2005 9
FON can become Europe’s biggest WiFi network
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
A big thank you to all the foners out there who sent us data on Telefonica, The Cloud and T Mobile hotspots.
To recap: Telefonica currently has the largest WiFi network in Spain with 900 hotspots. The Cloud has the largest WiFi network in Europe with 6000 hotspots. And finally, T Mobile has the largest WiFi network in the world with 14,000 hotposts. FON already has 1500 pre-registered foners, so this means that very soon, FON will have a larger network than Telefonica. Coupled with FON expansion in France and Sweden, FON could be the largest WiFi network in Europe by April of next year, with more than 6000 hotspots (to which Linuses will connect for free!).
2005 9
Linksys router WRT54G/GS
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
As I’ve written earlier, the fact that FON only works with Linksys WRT54G/GS routers is bugging some foners. To be sure, only 15% of pre-registered foners already have a compatible Linksys router. But believe me, these routers are amazing. In reality, they’re are like mini Linux computers on which you will be installing open software that will evolve very rapidly as new updates and plug-ins appear.
Right now, we’re negotiating a deal with Linksys to buy routers from them. As I’m writing this, the best price we found was 70 EUR but we hope to have them for 55 EUR at the SIMO launch for the first 1000 foners.
2005 7
FON: not only bad news for mobile operators
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
We were examining the issue of coverage for Wififons yesterday and we concluded that although the advantage of Wififon over GSM (in terms of calling costs) is incredible, the disadvantage in terms of coverage is also quite important. For this reason, we’re thinking of creating DUAL Wififons that would combine WiFi and GSM. This way, foners would be able to call for free if there’s Wifi and pay if there isn’t. Either way, foneros would always stay connected. In other words, FON would also sell Wififons where you could insert a SIM card and mobile operators would make money.
Although very expensive, there’s no doubt that mobile operators have the best coverage and few people today are willing to completely let go off their GSM.
2005 7
Linksys and Skype : a failure
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
It pains me to say this because I am a big admirer of Linksys and Skype, but last night, i tested the Skype telephone by Linksys, the CIT200, and i was very disappointed. The problems? Well first, it costs a hefty €150. Second, it doesn’t use WIFI but DECT. And thirdly, it works with a cable. Basically, it’s technology of the 80s mixed with Skype. If you don’t have your computer on, you can’t use your phone!
Compared to the CIT200, the WiFifon, which works whether or not your computer is on and works on any FON or open access point, is so much better. Skype needs to start selling its own WiFifon. It’s giving Microsoft a huge opportunity to come out with a Wifi voice gadget and eventually completely dominate the market. Instant Messenger already has a voice and video capability. Put this in a small WiFi enable device that you can use on the FON network and sell it to those 90 million IM users in Europe, and you’re almost impossible to beat.
During the 10 first years of the web, two huge communities gradually formed: the GSM telephone community and the IM community (Skype, MSN Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo, AOL), which represent 20% and 10% of the world’s population, respectively. In the next 5 years, these two communities will fuse and the person who will lead this fusion will make lots of users happy with a system with voice, video, file transfer and chat; all over a WiFi network. This will be much more powerful than today’s 3G.
2005 6
FON on the go
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
A Linus asked me today if, once FON is launched in France, French Linuses will be able to connect in Spain and vice versa. My answer is YES. One of the most incomprehensible policies of major operators like Vodafone, Orange and T Mobile is precisely their roaming policy. In an open border Europe and a global internet without borders, these operators over-charge you as soon as you step out of your country. Our plan is to have FON in as many countries as possible and enable FON members to connect wherever they are.
Imagine you have a WiFiFON, you go to Paris and you receive a phone call to your Spanish landline number. Well, the person calling you will pay what he/she pays for a call to a landline number in Spain (or nothing, if the person uses a flat fee calling plan) and you don’t pay any roaming charge when receiving that call in Paris. But there’s more: all your calls to other WiFiFONS are free and all other calls are at really competitive rates, similar to Skype rates.
2005 6
Ideas to spread the word
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The following are ideas that surfaced during a brainstorm with FON colleagues in France. Some already have been used in Spain and I will share them with those FON members who are interested in spreading the word.
FON sticker on your mailbox: the problem with mailboxes in apartment buildings is that they usually are packed with advertising (flyers, coupons etc…). With FON, it’s time to get even. It’s time we use our mailboxes to do our own publicity. Let’s put FON stickers on our mailboxes so that our neighbours know that they can change to FON if they’re unhappy with their ADSL provider or know that there is a Bill nearby who is ready to sell them WiFi access.
FON flags: why not make orange FON flag for Bills so they can put them at their windows and let roaming Aliens in the area know they can connect.
WiFiFONs in parks: how about a Bill who brings a couple of WiFiFONs to a park and lets Aliens in this park call back home at ridiculously low prices.
Personal FON homepage: When a fonero connects using another fonero’s connection, it would be interesting to have a FON homepage pop-up upon connection. The idea is to let each fonero have a homepage that he or she can personnalise. For example, if a fonero wants to promote an NGO, the fonero would be able to place logos and write about this NGO. Or it could be a blog, or an artist…
Sharing more than your connection: Another intesting idea is based on the fact that by definition, Linuses like to share. So why not share more than bandwidth? How about sharing your books, your DVDs, your playstation games, etc.? Sharing with FON would have a much broader sense whereby FON members would not only share digitally but also share physical objects they can either deliver at another FON member’s doorstep directly or through the post.
2005 4
FON in France
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
On December 5th, FON will be launched in France, during the “Les Blogs” conference hosted by Loïc Lemeur. I’m pleased to introduce to you Yann Mauchamp, who will be leading FON in France. Yann is currently the manager of OpenBC in France.
There’s a lot of interest in FON here in France. Mobile calling rates are even higher than in Spain. For example, a call using a pre-paid card costs 48c/min in Spain compared to 55c/min in France. Being a Linus and using your WiFiFON for free while at the same time enjoying free roaming all across France is very attractive for FON members in France. It looks like here, we’re also going to have more Linuses than Bills, but France is another country filled with Aliens, more than in Spain, and people who live in areas where there a lot of Aliens want to be Bills. Indeed, to have an antena directed towards the street or a hotel, to have 50% of your bandwidth reserved for you and to be able to charge each Alien who connects to your access point is very attractive for many here as well.
2005 3
Fonero Leaders in Sweden, France, and Argentina
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We already have three FONERO leaders outside of Spain. They have been selected out of 42 candidates from 17 countries. They are Yann Mauchamp in France. Hilarion Del Olmo in Argentina and Ola Ahlvarsson in Sweden. We will launch FON at SIME in Stockholm on Nov 10th. We will start FON in Spain at SIMO on Nov 15th and we will launch in France at Les Blogs on Dec 5th. We still don´t have a start up date for Argentina. We are waiting to make decisions on other countries although we have amazing leaders from USA, for example. The FON proposition is simple: a software download that turns your wifi into a hotspot to be shared with other foneros. In this way you will continue paying for bandwidth at home but have bandwidth both at home and throughout your country. The execution of the FON strategy however is not so simple and that´s why we need FONERO leaders who can spread the message locally. 2006 will be the year of the wifi gadgets. Other than laptops and pda´s we will see wifi ipod type devices, wifi playstations, nintendo revolution, wifi phones or wifi digital cameras. But what are all those good for without a wifi nation? Get your toys out of your bath tub! Join FON.
2005 3
List of all the routers that will work with FON
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FON software is open source. We are inviting anyone interested to improve the software. Here’s a list of all the routers that will work with FON a couple of months from now. Basically, to work with FON, a router has to be a sort of mini Linux computer.