Skype, Google join backers for Wi-Fi sharing startupA wireless communications start-up in Spain that
is partly a grass-roots social movement seeking to encourage users to share
Internet access with their neighbours is set to announce on Monday $21.7 million
in funding from big name backers, such as Skype Technologies and
Google.
![]() Fon Technology SL said it has secured 18 million euros in initial financing from Skype, the popular Web-based calling company now owned by eBay, Google, and venture capital firms Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital. These backers offer legitimacy for Madrid-based Fon, whose goal is to create a block-by-block network of shared wireless links around the globe, by turning users of local Wi-Fi access into an army of “foneros,” or people sharing wireless access. Fon is a wireless incarnation of peer-to-peer technology that was first made popular — and controversial — by the pioneering online music-sharing service, Napster. As the company’s name implies, Fon would allow users of not just laptops, but also mobile phones or the latest portable gaming devices — anything with a built-in Wi-Fi link — to share wireless connections offered by other Fon users. Does this make the Telcos who will oppose this — “antifoneros”? Posted: Mon - February 6, 2006 at 08:20 AM |