British Telecom bequeathed to share

At the end of last week, the UK’s largest provider of all types of communication, including broadband Internet access, BT (formerly known as British Telecommunications), announced the start of cooperation with the world's first distributed Wi-Fi-network FON . Now the company will recommend to all its subscribers to open their Internet channel to other members of the Foneros network through special equipment.

FON is a free international community of people who want to make access to the Internet around the world as easy and convenient as, for example, access to television. These people do not want to wait for mercy from municipal authorities or large IT corporations, whose efforts today are creating myriads of wireless networks with free Internet access, which is given as a privilege to a certain group of people (residents of a given area or employees of this university, for example) or additions to paid services (as in catering establishments). They build their distributed network on the basis of the principle “you for me - I am for you”: each Fonero (this is how the members of the community call each other in the Spanish manner), which gave everyone who can get into the Network through a router installed at his home, can count on that wherever he is, another Fonero will do the same for him.

FON, founded half a year ago in Madrid by Argentine entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky , decided to popularize the idea of ​​a global free Wi-Fi network of spots, uniting its supporters under its brand and providing them with cheap unified equipment of its own production: La Fonera routers and La antennas Fontenna. During its development, FON sold routers for only € 5 and regularly arranged for their free distribution in major cities. Despite the obvious lack of press attention, FON almost immediately gained the support of investors from Google, Skype and a number of venture funds in Europe, America and Japan. As a result, almost 200,000 active FON-spots already exist around the world and their number continues to grow, although not at such a rapid pace as originally expected.

A big injection into the ranks of Los Foneros caused the April FON agreement with the US provider Time Warner Cable, whose subscribers have significantly improved the situation with network coverage in US cities. FON expects a similar effect from the contract with BT, which serves about 3 million subscribers in the UK alone. The marketing department of this giant telecom giant in Europe should take on the task of shaping the image of La Fonera router as an indispensable addition to the home unlimited channel, giving its owner an unprecedented freedom of movement without losing the connection with this, in fact, home channel. The provider itself will receive a wireless network for free, relying on its infrastructure and increasing its attractiveness in the eyes of potential customers.
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The FON business model is based not only and not so much on the sale of equipment, but on the resale by members of the community of their traffic to third parties. If for “their own” connection to the channel of each Fonero is absolutely free, then for “others” it will cost about € / $ 2-3 per day. Some of this money will remain with the owner of the spot, and the rest will go in favor of FON.

Now, when we see that FON brings benefits to all - providers and providers of various voracious Internet services (YouTube, Skype, etc.), who are not at all against mastering mobile users, and these users themselves, the question arises: why FON hot spots in Russia and the CIS can be counted on fingers?