Venture for Sharing Wi-Fi Draws Big-Name Backers
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 5 — A telecommunications executive said on Sunday that he had received $21.7 million for what he called "a global network of shared Wi-Fi connections" from backers, including Google, the Internet phone service provider Skype …
Context & Ripple Effects
FON's financing follows Google's public Wi-Fi pitch in 2005 and a January examination of broadband sharing as a way to improve access. Google and Skype are backing a model that depends on individuals contributing connections, rather than a single company owning every access point.
First-order effects
- FON receives $21.7 million to recruit participants and build its proposed global network of shared Wi-Fi connections.
- Google and Skype become investors in FON, tying two Internet-service companies to the venture's network buildout.
Second-order effects
- FON must turn financing into a sufficiently broad base of participating connection owners; its service becomes more useful as those contributors add coverage.
- Google's support places FON alongside its existing Wi-Fi agenda, while Skype gains an interest in wider Wi-Fi availability for Internet-based communications.
Third-order effects
- If participant-contributed coverage reaches scale, Wi-Fi access can be organized as a shared network assembled from household and business connections rather than only operator-built hotspots.
The trend: Internet companies are backing shared-access networks that try to expand connectivity by mobilizing users' existing broadband infrastructure.