2005 22
Andrew Rasiej as our North American advisor?
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
The other day, I wrote about how I had discovered a brilliant North American political activist, Andrew Rasiej, who lost the September elections in New York but who managed to spark a lot interest in his campaign to create a WiFi New York. Well, it just so happens our Fonero leader for North America, Ejovi Nuwere, contacted him and got him interested in FON. So much so that that he’s now considering joining our board for North America.
He basically told Ejovi that he likes the fact that FON is a popular movement and not a big public company, although he rightly notes that we will have to complement FON with a public branch that would be present in public buildings, hospitals and schools.
But the difference between the cost of making New York WiFi and the cost of setting wifi only in public buildings, hospitals and schools is abysmal. The same would also be true in Madrid if one wanted to create a WiFi Madrid.
2005 22
Ejovi Nuwere: Fonero leader for North America
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
I’d like to introduce to you Ejovi Nuwere, our Fonero leader for North America. Ejovi is one of those IT prodigies. He was a hacker when he was young, but now, at 25, he is the head of his own internet security company and Business Week one of the top 20 most talented entrepreneurs in the US.
I met Ejovi at the March 11 conference and i was really impressed ith his ideas on how to make the internet secure and at the same time, more open. When i started FON, i invited Ejovi to be our North America leader and he accepted. And not only did he accept, but he also shared with me the great news that Andrew Rasiej, the political WiFi activist from New York, had joined FON.
2005 21
FON’s poltical activism isn’t as original as I thought
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
Now that we’re planning our launch in the US, i realised that our political activism to create a WiFi nation isn’t that original in this country. Andrew Rasiej, a politician from New York, has his whole campaign based on the idea of creating a WiFi New York. The difference between FON and his campaign agenda isn’t the objective, but rather, the method. Mr. Rasiej WiFi approach requires a multi-million dollar investment in WiFi network infrastructure. The FON approach aims at citizen collaboration whereby citizens are asked to download this free software, install it on their router and place their newly converted FON access points on their window sill. The other obvious difference is the fact that Mr. Rasiej is a politican and I am an entrepreneur. But if there is one thing we have in common, it is our dream to see a mobile internet for everyone become a reality.