You might recall how Spanish startup named
Fon aimed to build a global network of one million wireless hotspots by the end of four years. Originally the company urged users to install Fon firmware on their Linksys residential routers, turning them into a unified community of global hotspots. Fon then proceeded to offer up their own
$50 Fonera routers, which Fon members can then access for free whenever they're traveling.
The somewhat original idea (see
Linspot) received a lot of hype from bloggers when founded back in 2005, but hasn't really taken off here in the States. That could change slightly with the news that Fon has partnered with AT&T.
According to the
announcement, AT&T users now have access to Fon Wi-Fi hotspots when travelling overseas (they need to use the
AT&T Wi-Fi International App). Fon users in turn get access to AT&T's 30,000 hotspots nationwide.
"This deal is only the first step in our mission to cover the US (and eventually the world!) with WiFi," proclaims Fon in a
blog post.
Some ISPs have tried to mirror the Fon concept. Comcast recently announced a
similar program back in June that allows Comcast customers to share their gateway bandwidth with other users.
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