Thursday, March 29, 2007

Excite and FON

I'm excited to announce that Excite has invested in FON. The announcement was very well received with excited investors driving Excite's shares up 17.4%. It's great to see the adoption of FON is so widespread that investors are taking notice.

Disclaimer: I was not able to refrain from using the term "excited" repeatedly in this post. My apologies.

Posted by Steve Ross on Business
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Monday, March 26, 2007

Fontenna Update

As promised here are more details on La Fontenna. It's a weatherproof indoor/outdoor wall or window mountable antenna that will help direct the signal into your home or business and towards the street. This is the first in a series of Fontenna's designed to give our FON spots more visibility.

Specifications:
Frequency Range: 2400Mhz to 2500Mhz
Antenna gain: 7~8dBi
VSWR: 2.0 : 1 MAX
Polarization: Linear, vertical
Impedance: 50 ohms
Temperature: -10 to +55 Celsius
Connector: R/P SMA PLUG

Posted by Steve Ross on Gadgets
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Thursday, March 22, 2007

FON & McAfee

A lot people ask me about security. To help answer your questions we've added a security page. To insure we're providing the best possible security we've partnered with the global leader in Intrusion Prevention and Security Risk Management; McAfee.
FON-McAfee

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Coming to a Billboard Near You

If you live in Oslo you will soon find FON in billboards across the city! The details are in the press release below.

Press Release March 21st 2007
(note some corrections made on March 28th)

500 new wifi hotspots in Oslo

The mobile broadband company iBand is launching 500 new WiFi hotspots in Oslo together with Clear Channel and the net phenomenon Fon. During this summer you will be able to use this unique offer throughout most of Oslo.

This comprehensive cooperation is about iBand supplying the infrastructure for mobile broadband internet, while Fon, which is doing their first deal in Scandinavia, delivers the WiFi technology, and the third partner, Clear Channel delivers the Wifi locations through their billboards in Oslo.

iBand provides the mobile broadband service iBurst. In this cooperation, iBand will make it possible for different Fon WiFi locations in Oslo to work. iBand is currently providing truly mobile broadband in Oslo but is also preparing deployment in other large cities in Norway says Sales & Marketing director Christian Lind.

We are planning to build out the biggest cities in Norway, and are also considering taking this concept to the other cities. Lind also says that the next natural step is to take this abroad.

The three players are now introducing a great offer in Oslo that will enable WiFi broadband Internet access close to Clear Channels boards, in addition to iBand’s iBurst coverage.

A WiFi package from Fon with continuous net access will cost about 3 Euro per day or 2 Euro per day if you buy a 10 day subscription. The payment is the same all over the world says Ola Ahlvarson from Fon. Fon is the biggest company in the world to deliver WiFi with 120 000 hot spots around the world.

This cooperation builds on a technology which is highly user focused which will change the telecom sector says Jan Tore Endresen from Clear Channel.

For additional information please contact:

Christian Lind +47 2244 8222

www.iband.no
www.fon.com
www.clearchannel.no

About iBand

iBand is Europe's first 4th generation (4G) full IP mobile broadband operator.

Established in 2003, iBand is Europe’s first operator to obtain a mobile broadband licenses in Norway, Denmark and The Netherlands in 2005. In September 2006, iBand was Europe’s first operator to launch commercial mobile broadband services based on the commercially proven iBurst technology (IEEE802.20 pre-selected and ANSI standard) in Norway.

iBand’s commercial strategy is to deliver highly secure, high reliability, quality mobile broadband voice and data services direct to business customers and students and through wholesale arrangement, to online brands and Telecom service providers.

About FON

FON is the largest WiFi Community in the world. It was launched in February 2006, and wants to stimulate growth of WiFi Internet access through its bandwidth sharing Community. The FON WiFi Routers, which are available for $/€ 39.95 to those who join the Community, have a specific Software installed that enables the FON member to share his bandwidth with the FON Community. FON currently has 3200,000 registered users, and plans to grow to 1 million WiFi Access Points by the end of next year. FON's investors include Google, Skype, Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital.

About Clear Channel

Clear Channel Outdoor, based in Phoenix, Arizona, is the world's largest outdoor advertising company with over 881,000 displays in more than 60 countries across 6 continents. In the United States, the company operates over 155,000 advertising displays and has a presence in 45 of the top 50 Designated Market Areas. It also operates airport, rail, taxi and mall advertising businesses worldwide. Its Spectacolor (U.S.) and DEFI (international) divisions are the global market leaders in spectacular sign displays, including in New York's Times Square. Adshel(TM) is the company's international street furniture division, which operates more than 3,500 municipal advertising contracts worldwide.

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FON & TIC

FON and The Internet Company (TIC) have teamed up to grow the FON movement. We're proud to add TIC to the growing list of ISP's who are joining with FON. If you're a resident of Switzerland please take a look at what TIC offers.

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Malaga becoming first Fonero City!

Malaga Spain is becoming the world's first Fonero city! (we already have Fonero towns but not a city of over half a million people). City Hall is already a FONspot and the city of Malaga is putting up FON Routers and Fontennas in all of its public buildings. FON will donate over 2000 La Foneras to Malaga's citizens who will place them in their windows. Malaga is a popular destination, its airport has 13 million passengers per year. These visitors will get free WiFi if they are Foneros anywhere in the planet or can pay 3 euros per day if they are not. FON's model was chosen over the Muni WiFi model that the city first considered because our model involves citizen participation, is extremely inexpensive for cities, and has the collaboration of ISPs and telcos who sell more broadband connections. Thank you, Malaga!

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Tuesday, March 20, 2007

The Fontenna

Many people have asked for ways to extend the range of La Fonera. Next month we're launching the Fontenna designed specifically for this purpose. It's an 8 dBi antenna suitable for mounting outside! We're going to make it free for Foneros with the busiest hotspots! Check back for more details soon.

Posted by Steve Ross on Gadgets
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Friday, March 16, 2007

Sony and FON!

I'm thrilled to announce that FON and Sony have partnered to sell La Fonera in Sony Style shops! This is a huge honor for us to be featured alongside the many great Sony products. Our Japanese Foneros are eligible to purchase the mylo / La Fonera bundle. If you haven't seen the mylo yet below is information from Sony and a picture.

Enjoy your favorite online activities right under your thumbs. The mylo™ (My Life Online™) personal communicator lets you stay connected with your friends from just about anywhere with instant messaging, web browsing, music, pictures and videos—all concentrated in the palm of your hand. All you need to do is connect to an open Wi-Fi hotspot (802.11b) and you can, browse the web with the built-in HTML web browser. With the built-in Skype™ software you can reach out to any Skype user on any Skype-enabled device and talk for free. Mylo is also a music player that allows you to share your playlists and stream songs between two mylo devices. The mylo communicator features a full QWERTY keyboard, a vivid colorful screen and no monthly service fees, allowing you to IM, chat and share with your friends nonstop.

Posted by Steve Ross on Business
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Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company

Leelanau Coffee Roasting Company in Glen Arbor, Michigan is proud to offer FON wifi to their customers! Leelanau Coffee has been roasting and serving coffee for fourteen years. They supply the better restaurants, grocery stores, and cafés throughout the northern part of Michigan. They are open 360 days a year, serving up espresso, brewed coffee, and tea. With indoor and outdoor seating, it is a gathering place for locals and tourists alike who love Leelanau County, Glen Lake, Lake Michigan, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Stop in and see them next time your in the neighborhood! If you can't get there you can also order their coffee online. With over 90 varieties including USDA Certified Organic there is something for everyone!

If you would like your cafe or restaurant featured here please contact me via the comments.

Posted by Steve Ross on Foneros
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Friday, March 9, 2007

Want to be featured on this blog?

If your cafe or business has a FON access point and you would like to be featured on this blog post a comment and I'll contact you.

Posted by Steve Ross on Foneros
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Wednesday, March 7, 2007

FON Raises $13 Million!

I am happy to announce that we have raised another $13 million dollars (for a total of around $35 million raised since our incorporation in Feb 06). Funds were raised from a combination of current investors including Martin Varsavsky and 4 new strategic investors whose identities we will disclose soon.

Proceeds of the round will be used for R&D, growing the number of Foneros, and a huge raise for our English blogger (ok maybe not the last one). We’re already present in over 80 countries and this new funding will allow us to pursue many of the great ideas everyone has shared!

Posted by Steve Ross on Business
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Tuesday, March 6, 2007

New Home Page

You may have noticed our new home page! We've added a what's new link to keep you informed of the latest developments. We've also taken your suggestions to make the maps more visible and given them a more prominent position on the page. Take a look and let me know what you think.