2006 16
15,615 Registered Foneros!
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
I just got the latest numbers on registered foneros around the world. They are shockingly good. FON´s stated objective was to be the largest hot spot network in 2006. We were looking at Boingo a super successful and very well managed hot spot aggregator who says in their home page that they have 25,000 hot spots from many different telcos around the world. They were our benchmark. When we presented to Skype, Index Ventures, Sequoia and Google we stated our objective as being the largest hot spot network in the world by the end of 2006. But 10 days ago we had 3000 registered foneros. Today we have 15,615 in the process of becoming active hot spots. And this is all happening before our ISP partnerships start delivering FON ready customers, before Linksys and other router makers start selling FON ready routers in their shops, before we show up in the web pages of our partners and other web sites, before we make agreements with cities to use FON as their muni wifi project, and before our management structure is in place in most countries to make it all work. Frankly I don´t know how many foneros we will have by the end of the year but 25,000 foneros by year end looks very doable now. In the meantime I would like to thank everyone for their trust and again apologize for the delay in delivering routers. I guess the good news is that we buy them for $50, we flash them and we sell them for $25. The other good news is that we did not take anyone´s money when we realized how swamped we were and we only took reservations. The bad news is that it will take us a month at least to fulfill the orders. But we will.
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No Comments
Emmanuel Lambert on February 16, 2006 ·
Hello Martin,
I have a suggestion for you regarding FON : why don’t you make a deal with TomTom to put FON Access Points into their personal navigator units….
That way, people will be able to easily find FON points while they are on the road.
good luck with your fantastic new startup FON.
Emmanuel Lambert
Pedro on February 16, 2006 ·
Martin, registered users is one thing. Users with routers turned on 24/7 and saring their connection is a ver diffrent thing. It is only fair that you report on how many 24/7 active hotspots FON has.
I myself regisered on FON and I’m not sure I’ll join the fun, at least for a while. It would be very very dissapointing to join a network that claims X thousand hotspots to later realize there’s not even a fraction of that actually working. Also, I doubt people care so much about registered users – they care about active hotspots.
Not only I hope this comment will be approved, but also to get an answer right here on your blog, thanks!
Martín Varsavsky on February 16, 2006 ·
#3
Hi Pedro! FON is not claiming to have anywhere near 15,615 active hotspots. Indeed we are going live with the first ones. But the first step is the registration process and that´s what we are reporting on and will continue reporting on. Skype reports downloads, we report registrations and will continue to report them.
Regards,
teleken on February 16, 2006 ·
All I have to say is great minds think alike.Foneros take charge!!
This is a grand dream. Spread the word FON!!
Paul Reigersmants on February 17, 2006 ·
Martin, I do totally agree with Pedro, and I’d also like to know how FON will check and guarantee that all active foneros keep their routers turned on 24/7 to allow other users access the net through their broadband connections.
Davide on February 17, 2006 ·
Mr. Varsavsky, here in Italy we have low bandwith connctions, low ADSL internet coverage.
Few people are talking about FON, because it’s difficult even having a fast internet connection.
FON it’s a great idea but it requires:
1. high ADSL coverage
2. high rates of Internet diffusion and usage
3. a competitive telcom market offering low cost connection (prices and telcom market are stuck in Italy, because of Telecom Italia monopoly)
So, no ADSL no FON.
It’s a big problem here.
Paul Reigersmants on February 17, 2006 ·
#6 Martin Varsavsky
Martin, if you cannot guarantee that routers will be active 24/7, you’ll have no business.
If I am a Linus, how am I going to share my broadband, if I cannot get free internet when I’m travelling?
Obviously, if you cannot guarantee it, this business model will be work only for Bills.
Martín Varsavsky on February 17, 2006 ·
#9
Paul, do you tell that to Vodafone every time your phone calls get cut off? Believe me, there is less of a chance that somebody disconnects their router when you are connected that your mobile call get cut off. Now Vodafone seems to have a business, why shouldn´t we?
Now let me add that I reserve the last word for myself in my blog and can´t debate each commentator, so I apologize but I won´t publish more comments on this subject. We accept that we think we have a business and average quality standards in the mobile world and you don´t. That´s fine, we don´t have to agree.
Regards,
Henrik Ahlen on February 19, 2006 ·
FON is great idea, I will spred the word here in Stockholm. I understand the logistical problems with delivering the routers, I hope you will get more distribution partners in the future.
But today I tried to order a router on the English FON web page, and everything went fine until the credit card page which was all in Spanish, so I could not fill it it. A small barrier…
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Cem Dalgic on February 16, 2006 ·
Like Jack Welch said:
Be prepared. The most important step is supply chain in order to satisfy customers and consumers.
But, i also didn´t expect this huge demand and numbers of new Foneros.
Frankfurt inner city has been Foned
Next week i´ll be in Istanbul to fone the Turks 😉