Friday, July 18, 2008

NEW ZON@FON FREE WiFi COMMUNITY AIMS TO COVER PORTUGAL WITH 100.000 FREE HOTSPOTS

Madrid, Spain / Lisbon, Portugal:

Rodrigo Costa, CEO of ZON Multimédia, and Martin Varsavsky, Founder and CEO of FON announced today the launch of ZON@FON Free WiFi Community, a free WiFi service that will allow ZON Netcabo’s 400.000 customers to be part of the world’s largest WiFi Community.

The service is based on the revolutionary idea of a massive WiFi network, built through the contribution of individual customers to allow everyone, everywhere free access to the Internet.

From launch, ZON@FON will be Portugal’s largest WiFi network, with over 2.500 hotspots and part of the world’s largest wireless community, with over 250.000 hotspots worldwide.

The goal of the partnership is to dramatically increase the number of hotspots in the country, and contribute to the overall growth of the FON global community.

ZON@FON aims to have over 100.000 hotspots in Portugal, providing nearly ubiquitous connectivity to the Internet, further strengthening the offer of Zon Netcabo, Portugal’s broadband pioneer and innovation leader.

Anyone who uses a ZON@FON compatible router will host a hotspot that is based in a separate, secure channel, independent from their personal WiFi network.

ZON Netcabo will deploy access equipment with embedded ZON@FON functionality that will allow customers to host their own hotspot at no additional cost.

The internet connection provided by ZON Netcabo will carry all the hotspot’s traffic, but it will be separate from the user’s traffic and will not reduce the bandwidth from his internet access. This innovation was possible thanks to the superior speed and flexibility that cable networks offer, and was developed by FON and ZON exclusively for the ZON@FON Free WiFi Community.

The ZON@FON Free Internet Community will boost the usage of a whole new generation of devices, including: game consoles, GPS’s, cellular phones, PDA’s, I-Phones, in addition to traditional laptop computers.

About ZON Multimedia
With over 1,5 million TV, 400 thousand broadband and 200 thousand fixed line customers ZON Multimedia is Portugal’s leading provider of triple play offers. Originally a cable TV operator, ZON now offers multiple services across several platforms: cable, satellite, adsl and is now launching a Mobile Virtual Network Operator. Additionally, ZON is Portugal leading content distribution and cinema exhibition company, though its ZON Lusomundo business.

For more information, visit ZON at http://www.zon.pt

About FON
FON is the world’s largest WiFi community. FON’s mission is to stimulate the growth of WiFi around the world by creating a global community of “Foneros”. FON’s La Fonera routers have been designed to enable Foneros to share their home Internet access in a completely secure manner. Founded in February 2006 in Madrid, Spain, FON investors include Google, Skype, British Telecom, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Coral Capital Management and Excite Japan. Currently FON has close to 1 Million registered members in Europe, Asia and America.
For more information, visit FON at http://www.fon.com

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Thursday, June 5, 2008

100,000 broadband customers switch on to BT Fon

BT today announced that it has attracted over 100,000 members in the UK to BT FON, the world’s largest Wi-Fi community, where members share their broadband connection to establish a network of wireless hotspots. BT has also been recognised for its success with the BT FON community project, launched with its partner Fon, by being named the most Innovative Wireless Broadband Company by the 2008 Wireless Broadband Innovation Awards.

Since the launch of BT FON in October last year, 100,000 BT Total Broadband customers have come together to join the BT FON community, creating thousands of new Wi-Fi hotspots up and down the country.

In addition to the BT FON network in the UK, BT Total Broadband customers that join the BT FON community can access 3,000 BT Openzone hotspots at locations such as hotels, airports and railway stations, BT’s 13 UK wireless cities, and Fon’s global network of 190,000 hotspots. This provides BT Total Broadband customers with unrivalled Wi-Fi coverage across the UK and the rest of the world, allowing even more customers to experience the benefits of broadband both at home and when out and about.

Every BT customer that joins the BT FON community agrees to share a small portion of their home broadband connection, by opening up a separate, secure channel on their wireless router – the BT Home Hub. They are then able to use, free of charge, the BT FON hotspots of other members, BT Openzone hotspots, BT’s UK wireless cities, and Fon hotspots around the world.

Jon Hurry, Director Internet Services, Consumer, said: “It’s great to see BT Total Broadband customers joining forces to set up a people’s Wi-Fi network across the UK. BT has been instrumental in creating Broadband Britain, and we have built on that by calling upon entire communities to come together to create a Wi-Fi network that covers the country, driven entirely by local broadband users.

“We’ve already built extensive Wi-Fi coverage across the UK with BT Openzone and 13 Wireless Cities, but with more people signing up to BT FON everyday, Wi-Fi coverage in the UK is set to get better and better.”

Customers that sign up to BT Total Broadband Anywhere automatically join the BT FON community. Broadband Anywhere is the new all-inclusive broadband package from BT which offers customers a free, internet enabled Smartphone – the BT ToGo – for just £5 more per month than the price of BT Total Broadband Option 3. Today’s announcement means that Broadband Anywhere customers can enjoy unlimited access at even more wireless hotspots around the UK, allowing them to surf the web, email, make calls and text, both at home and out and about.

BT Total Broadband customers that are interested in joining the BT FON community can visit www.bt.com/btfon for more information about how to sign up. Customers can also visit the website to obtain a view of their local BT FON network. By simply entering a postcode, they can find the nearest BT FON or BT Openzone hotspots near to their home and to other places of interest. To encourage other people in their area to join the BT FON community and give their local Wi-Fi network an extra boost, promotional materials such as posters are also available to members to download from the website.

Customers who want to connect to broadband via BT FON while abroad can also visit the website to find Fon hotspots in other countries around the world.

From the summer, non-BT Total Broadband customers in the UK will also be able to join the BT FON community by purchasing FON’s Wi-Fi router, La Fonera.

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Wednesday, June 4, 2008

New FON Spot Name

Thanks to feedback from some of our top Foneros we've learned that changing the FON_AP to a more attractive name significantly improved the number of visits. Based on this information we decided to change all FON Spots’ (public) signal names that weren't already modified by their owners.

How does this affect me?

This doesn't affect you. Your FON Spot visitors will now see this new signal name but nothing else has changed. Hopefully, you’ll even see an increase of visits! If you like, you can still the name to 'FON_nameyouwant', but we recommend that you to keep this new name or something similar. Instructions for changing the name are below.

How can I change the signal name?

There are two options…
Option 1

1. Connect to the MyPlace? signal. 2. Open your browser and type http://192.168.10.1 and the console will be loaded. The standard user name and password are both the word "admin". 3. Click on "Public WiFi?" in the menu and then you can change the name behind the 'FON_'. Save your changes and the signal name will change. Perhaps you will have to wait a bit and/or refresh the WiFi? manager of your device to see the new signal name.

Option 2

1. Log into your My FON user area at fon.com with your FON username (email-address/password). 2. Then go to "Configure your FON Router" and in the Settings tab enter a new "Public Signal" 3. Save the FON Spot personalization.

Changes may take up to 30 minutes to take effect on your FON Spot. If you want the change to happen immediately, reboot you La Fonera

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

COMSTAR AND FON WIRELESS DEVELOP GLOBAL WI-FI NETWORK IN RUSSIA

Moscow, Russia – May 28, 2008 – “COMSTAR – United TeleSystems” JSC (“Comstar” or “the Company”) (LSE: CMST), the leading integrated telecommunications operator in Russia and the CIS, today announced that it has signed a strategic agreement with FON Wireless Ltd. (“FON”), a developer of a shared wireless internet access network based on Wi-Fi technology.

The FON network currently covers approximately 230,000 Wi-Fi hot-spots around the world. Any internet user with unlimited broadband internet access is able to use FON’s Wi-Fi router, La Fonera. This router is a part of the global Wi-Fi network which can be used by anyone who has WiFi-enabled equipment for internet access. The FON shared wireless network is, therefore, created and expanded by the users installing La Fonera routers, which can also be used for connecting to personal networks. Users can manage the amount of bandwidth they share with others. Security of sharing is ensured via a separation of the public SSID from the private SSID by a firewall.

Coral/ Sistema Strategic Fund, the venture fund set up by Sistema, is one of the owners of the FON network. The world leading companies and investments funds, such as Google, British Telecom, Skype, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Excite Japan are among FON’s investment partners.

Under the terms of the agreement, Comstar and FON will jointly develop a Wi-Fi internet access network in the region of Russia and CIS. Initially, it will be created on the basis of the Comstar subscriber base in Moscow who will be able to easily join the worldwide FON network. Within the framework of the project, Comstar plans to establish 30,000 Wi-Fi access points in Moscow in 2008-2009 before expanding to other regions.

Broadband subscribers in Moscow will be able to rent La Fonera routers from Comstar, connect them to their ADSL or any other broadband internet access channel and join the FON network. The service will provide internet access at no extra cost in any places covered by FON, including the Comstar – FON network, using personal login and password details for the Comstar’s Moscow ADSL network.

The subscriber’s access point will also become “public” and might be used for internet access by both FON customers and others. The access of external clients to Comstar – FON network will be implemented with the help of pre-paid cards, SMS authorization and other means of receiving login and password details. The pre-paid cards will be sold by Comstar and FON through their sales channels.

Denis Muratov, Vice President, Head of Innovations and Science, commented: “We are very interested in global innovation projects which allow the introduction in Russia of new technologies and business development models, such as Comstar and FON’s joint project to develop the worldwide Wi-Fi network in the territory of Russia. We see the global expansion of services provided by our subsidiaries as a positive development.”

Sergey Pridantsev, President and Chief Executive Officer of Comstar UTS, commented: “Comstar is an exclusive operator-partner of the FON network in Russia. The project with FON is an important addition to our programme of broadband access development aimed at providing our subscribers with the opportunity to be always connected. The agreement with FON will allow the users to join the global network in many places around the world, and we will be able to provide services not only to our subscribers, but also to other users in Moscow. We are planning to expand our joint project with FON to the Russian regions.”

Martin Varsavsky, the founder and co-owner of FON Wireless Ltd., added: “FON is a unique network, and it is becoming exceedingly popular in many countries. We are very interested in cooperation with Comstar. This company is actively operating in the internet access market and is the market leader by subscribers in Moscow. Comstar is currently implementing a number of projects aimed at developing wireless internet access technologies, which is of great interest to us because of the potential opportunity for synergies with the FON network.”

***

For further information, please visit www.comstar-uts.com contact :

Comstar UTS
Masha Eliseeva
Tel: +7 985 997 0852
ir@comstar-uts.ru

Shared Value Limited
Matthew Hooper
Tel. +44 (0) 20 7321 5010
comstar@sharedvalue.net

Comstar UTS is the leading fixed-line telecommunications company in Moscow. Comstar provides voice, data, television and other value-added services to residential and corporate subscribers and operators, using its extensive backbone network and exclusive last mile access to 97% of Moscow households. The Company also offers communications services in five Russian regions, Armenia and Ukraine. Comstar had 695,000 broadband subscribers in Moscow. Comstar had 3.6 million residential subscribers in Moscow, including 651,000 residential broadband internet subscribers in Moscow, 102,000 corporate subscribers in Moscow, and approximately 448,000 regional and international subscribers, including 33,000 residential broadband internet subscribers and 102,000 residential pay-TV subscribers, at the end of 2007. Comstar generated US$ 1,562.4 million of revenues and a 42.5% OIBDA margin for the twelve months ended December 31, 2007. Comstar’s Global Depositary Receipts are listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: CMST).

FON is the world’s largest WiFi community. FON’s mission is to stimulate the growth of WiFi around the world by creating a global community of “Foneros”. FON’s La Fonera routers have been designed to enable Foneros to share their home Internet access in a completely secure manner. Founded in February 2006 in Madrid, Spain, FON investors include Google, Skype, British Telecom, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Coral Capital Management and Excite Japan. Currently FON has over 800,000 members in Europe, Asia and America and their Community is growing fast.

For more information, visit FON at www.fon.com or contact:

FON Wireless
Nina Wiegand
Tel:+34 677923029
Mail.: nina@fon.com

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Comstar UTS. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “will,” “could,” “may” or “might”, the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Comstar UTS wishes to caution that these statements are only predictions, and that actual events or results may differ materially. Comstar UTS does not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in projections or forward-looking statements of Comstar UTS, including, among others, general economic conditions, the competitive environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapid technological and market change in the industries Comstar UTS operates in, as well as many other risks specifically related to Comstar UTS and its operations.

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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

FON Featured in the New York Times

FON and founder Martin Varsavsky are featured in a New York Times article. John Markoff does a good job showing the hurdles we've overcome and the ones we still face.

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Saturday, April 12, 2008

FON Raises $9.5 Million!

Great news! We've raised another $9.5 million to grow the movement! We've got lots of great plans for the money. We're going to Launch FON in Russia, launch the Fonera 2.0 (the fonera that uploads and downloads stuff to and from the internet while you are doing something else with your laptop) and develop the fonera 802.11n for an end of the year launch!

I'm really exited we were able to raise so much money, and not just because I'm expecting a gigantic raise ;)! It's a challenging economic climate and an investment this large shows support for our business model. The leading investor in the round was the US Venture Capital arm of Sistema, Russia´s leading telco. Other investors in this C round include Google, British Telecom, Digital Garage and our founder and CEO Martin Varsavsky.

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Tuesday, February 5, 2008

FON Users Can Access All Livedoor Wireless Access Points for Free

FON Japan teams up with Livedoor to extend WiFi coverage throughout Tokyo

FON Japan and Livedoor Co., Ltd., a leading Japanese Internet Service Provider, have joined forces and announce today that Livedoor’s Wireless access points will become FON-enabled, allowing FON users to connect for free to the Internet through these Wireless Access Points (APs).

In Japan, FON offers more than 31,000 FON APs (known as FON Spots) primarily in residential areas of Tokyo, the largest WiFi offer compared with domestic public wireless access service providers. Additionally, Livedoor Wireless has around 2,200 APs within Tokyo’s 23 wards, covering 80% of the area inside the Yamanote Line, one of Tokyo's busiest and most important commuter lines Tokyo. Through this partnership, FON users will be able to connect to a “FON_livedoor”signal that will be added to Livedoor Wireless’ APs, and they will benefit from a great increase in FON Spots within central Tokyo inside the Yamanote Line area and in commercial areas.

Usage of FON_livedoor will be free for FON members until August 4, 2008, and both companies plan to continue this service for free thereafter. About 100 FON_livedoor APs will be accessible from the start, and all 2200 APs will become FON-enabled by February 11th. Moreover, with this partnership, all “Livedoor” contents can be viewed from all FON Spots, including FON_livedoor, even before login.

For FON Japan, this partnership with Livedoor leads to an increase in the number of WiFi access points and an enhanced user experience. For Livedoor, this means greater traffic to their portal site “livedoor”. In the future, both companies will consider other partnership possibilities, such as two way roaming where Livedoor Wireless users can also access FON Spots.With the rapid increase in pocket size WiFi devices, the demand for WiFi on the go is definitely increasing significantly. By joining together, FON and Livedoor aim to build a WiFi environment whereby users can connect everywhere and build a new WiFi culture together.

This type of partnership where FON users can access APs operated by public wireless access service providers is the first of its kind by FON globally. FON Japan will continue to proactively seek similar ventures that enhance its users’ WiFi experience.

To celebrate this partnership, FON will launch an additional “Free Access Campaign” from February 4 to April 4th, whereby all FON Spots including FON_livedoor Spots will be accessible for free by all FON members, even those who have registered with FON but still do not yet share WiFi at home with a FON Router.

HOW TO USE THE SERVICE
1. Access to SSID called FON_livedoor with a WiFi device and open up your web browser. FON_livedoor’s original login page will be displayed.
2. Enter FON ID and Password from the login page and access the internet
3. FON_livedoor Spots will be displayed on FON MAPs with other FON Spots
4. Non-FON members can register from FON Spots including FON_livedoor AP and immediately access the Internet

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Saturday, December 29, 2007

FON; Worth Watching!

FON has been named one of the "Top 10 Startups Worth Watching in 2008". We're sharing that space with some interesting company. Take a look and help us make 2008 a great year for Foneros!

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Monday, November 19, 2007

FON Participates in CBS Project to “Light Up Midtown Manhattan"

CBS has just announced that the launch of its CBS Mobile Zone project to “Light Up Midtown Manhattan with Free Wireless Internet Access”. This is great news for WiFi, free access and for everyone that loves NY. FON was one of CBS’ partners to make this new project a reality. Other partners include the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York City Transit, as well as several next-generation companies including Tropos, BIG, Ning, Goowy, Veoh, Yelp, 1020, Aptilo and Can-Do Entertainment.

The “CBS Mobile Zone” or “Wi-Fi HotZone” is already up and running in certain areas in Midtown and will be fully operational by the end of the month with a footprint of more than 20 city blocks from Times Square to Central Park South and from 6th Avenue to 8th Avenue.

New Yorkers who access the “CBS Mobile Zone,” will be greeted by an ad-supported homepage that includes hyperlocal content such as breaking local and national news, sports highlights, weather reports, music discovery, wallpapers, ringtones, maps, a social network and the ability to search for nearby restaurants, shops and entertainment complete with geographically-targeted community reviews.

This is another great step forward for WiFi!

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Tuesday, November 13, 2007

FON WiFi launches Affiliate Partner Marketing Program on Commission Junction

San Francisco, CA November 12th, 2007 -- FON’s is mission is to make WiFi universal and free worldwide through a global community of ‘Foneros’. In less than two years since its launch, FON has built the world's largest Wi-Fi community with over 530,000 members worldwide. Since opening its US office in San Francisco last year, FON has been focused on growing the base of its ‘Foneros’ (FON Community Members) in the US.

“We are a tech savvy nation whose expectations for internet access are high. People want fast, easy WiFi access - anytime, anywhere. As FON is poised for explosive growth in the U.S. this is an excellent opportunity for our new affiliate partners to contribute to this growth and be rewarded handsomely for their efforts.” says Joanna Reese, Chief Fonera USA.

The FON concept is simple – people share a portion of their WiFi internet connection at home and in exchange can roam on any other FON hotspot around the world for free. FON’s ‘La Fonera’ wireless routers have been designed to enable ‘Foneros’ to share their home Internet access in a completely secure manner by creating two distinct channels – a private channel for the hotspot owner, and a shared channel for the Community.

FON is eager to grow its U.S. membership through its newly launched Affiliate Partner Marketing Program offered through Commission Junction, a ValueClick company based in Santa Barbara, California. The program pays its affiliates (or Publishers as they are known on Commission Junction) a referral commission of 15% to 18% for each sale of FON’s WiFi Router – the device needed to securely share and get free access in the FON Community.

For more information about FON’s new Affiliate Program, go here: http://www.fon.com/en/landing/marketingpartner

The URL for the FON Commission Junction sign up form is: https://signup.cj.com/member/brandedPublisherSignUp.do?air_refmerchantid=2094316

The program is being managed by Jim Gribble of LinkProfits who has been managing affiliate programs for its select group of clients since 1999. Interested parties are encouraged to contact Mr. Gribble with any questions they may have about the program.

Contact:
Jim Gribble
Partner Marketing Manager
Email: affiliates@fon.com
Phone: 301 916-3900

FON WiFi
201 Post Street, 11th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108
www.FON.com

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Tuesday, October 2, 2007

FON in CNBC European Edition

FON was just featured in the CNBC European Edition with this photo on the cover! It took a split second for me to realize the photo was our very own Martin Varsavsky. I couldn't help but chuckle as I read the article. There were some great points but the paragraph I liked the best was;

"With the latest laptops and top-end mobile phones coming Wi-Fi-enabled, FON appears to be in a strong position to beat anything the mobile operators can come up with. Moreover, established hotspot providers cannot hope to compete on price. Emerging high-speed technologies like WiMAX will require huge investment, and the costs will inevitably be passed on to the consumer. FON’s future appears to be as bright as Alcobendas’ sun-dazzled streets."

It didn't end there though!

"Established hotspot providers like T-Mobile and Swisscom, operating at hotels and cafés, have enjoyed a virtual monopoly, splitting their income with the venue. FON is to them what Linux is to Microsoft."

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better I thought back to the headline. In case you missed it the title of the article was Wi-Fi hotshot! Go FON!

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Wednesday, September 5, 2007

FON in Forbes

FON founder Martin Varsavsky is featured in Forbes.com (sign up for a free subscription). During the interview he discusses how FON came to be; "Innovation usually comes from frustration, something I think is stupid or unreasonable," he says. "The telcos promised a fast, wireless Internet, but they mostly delivered a slow, walled garden. Fon is a movement. It is a telco built by the people." The article also features Peter Stern, an executive vice president at Time Warner discussing the benefits of FON. It's great to see our movement getting attention from the mainstream media!

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Friday, July 20, 2007

FON and NEUF CEGETEL begin rollout of new joint service

More good news! We've partnered with Neuf Cegetel. The official press release is below.

FON and NEUF CEGETEL begin rollout of new joint service

The WiFi Community and the French ISP get ready to launch the new Neuf WiFi FON service

Paris, France/Madrid, Spain – July 19, 2007 – FON, the world’s largest WiFi community, and Neuf

Cegetel, France’s leading alternative operator, have entered the final technical phase before the launch of the new Neuf WiFi FON service. Starting on July 19th and throughout the summer, Neuf Cegetel will be integrating FON’s software into all of its Neuf Boxes and officially launch the service at the beginning of September. This free service will enable all Neuf subscribers who own a WiFi Neuf Box to join the FON Community and start sharing some of their Internet connection with the WiFi Community. These users will be able to enjoy free and secure access to every FON WiFi access point (called “FON Spots”) in France and around the world.

Founded in Madrid in 2006, FON aims to stimulate the growth of WiFi access around the world, thanks to its members, also known as “Foneros”. Foneros share some of their broadband Internet connection with other Foneros and in return, can surf the Internet for free on more than 150,000 FON Spots worldwide.

To join the FON Community, Neuf Cegetel subscribers will need to activate the service using the free activation wizard available for download on the Neuf and FON websites. More experienced users will be able to activate the Neuf WiFi FON service directly from the management console of their Neuf Box. Once the service has been activated, the Neuf Box will begin emitting a WiFi signal called “Neuf WiFi FON”.

WiFi aficionados who are not Neuf Cegetel subscribers can join the FON Community by purchasing the “La Fonera”, FON’s own WiFi Router. With the “La Fonera”, a user will be able to enjoy free and unlimited WiFi access on any FON-enabled Neuf Box and any FON Spot in France and all over the world.

This partnership with Neuf Cegetel reinforces FON's close ties with other major ISPs, such as Time Warner Cable, and is the first one to fully integrate an ISP's WiFi capabilities with those of FON.

About FON
Viva Free WiFi - FON is the world’s largest WiFi community. FON’s mission is to stimulate the growth of WiFi around the world by creating a global community of “Foneros”. FON’s La Fonera routers have been designed to enable Foneros to share their home Internet access in a completely secure manner. Founded in February 2006 in Madrid, Spain, FON investors include Google, Skype, Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital.

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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Have You Seen Him?

Coming to a Starbucks near you?

No, it's not me in the bullfighter suit.

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Friday, May 25, 2007

Boingo Update

Some clarification on the FON & Boingo agreement.

Boingo will pay Fon for each time a Boingo customer connects to a Fon Spot. Fon will share 50% of the proceeds with Foneros registered as Bills. If you are a Linus, Boingo customers will not be able to connect to your router. If you are a Linus and would like to benefit from this simply change your registration to a Bill and you will receive 50% of the proceeds. Prices to be announced soon.

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Thursday, May 24, 2007

Boingo and FON

BOINGO TO ROAM ONTO FON’S WI-FI NETWORK MORE THAN DOUBLING ITS HOT SPOT NETWORK WORLDWIDE

Boingo® Roaming System Will be World’s Largest Hot Spot Network with Access to 130,000 FON Locations

MADRID/SANTA MÓNICA, Spain/CA/EE.UU.—May 24, 2007— Boingo Wireless Inc., the world’s leading wholesale network aggregator and operator of neutral-host Wi-Fi networks, today announced it has signed a roaming agreement with FON, a Madrid-based company, that, when integrated, will provide access to an additional 130,000 hot spot locations – more than doubling the company’s network size.

The 130,000 Wi-Fi locations come from businesses and individuals who add their own hot spots to the FON community in exchange for the right to roam on other FON community locations for free or at a reduced rate. For Boingo users, these new locations provide a rich network of Wi-Fi locations in areas that complement Boingo’s existing commercial locations.

Access to the FON network will also benefit users of Boingo Mobile, the company’s service for Wi-Fi-enabled handsets. Boingo Mobile users pay $7.95 per month for unlimited access to hot spots worldwide to make VoIP calls, use messaging services or surf the Internet from their handset.

“Boingo users have counted on the Boingo Roaming System for great coverage at major business travel locations, and now have the same great coverage outside of those locations with the addition of the FON community locations,” said Luis Serrano, Boingo vice president of network strategy.

“FON is continuing to attract important partners as it executes its business plan and builds a unique collection of Wi-Fi locations around the globe,” said Joanna Rees, CEO of FON U.S. “Now, the benefits of the FON network are available to a new audience – business travelers – who get ubiquitous coverage along with Boingo’s ease of use benefits.”

FON hot spots are provided by community members (called Foneros) who share their unused bandwidth via a FON router in exchange for free Wi-Fi access when roaming through any other FON access point. FON recently signed a partnership with Time Warner Cable, to give their cable modem service subscribers the opportunity to be members of the FON community and enjoy free unlimited Wi-Fi access at any of FON's partner ISP Wi-Fi hotspots.
Boingo – The Best Network For Business Travelers
Boingo gives business travelers the best choice of Wi-Fi hot spots by combining tens of thousands of locations from more than 150 leading Wi-Fi operators into one worldwide network. Boingo users can connect to any of these locations with a single Boingo account using Boingo’s free Wi-Fi client software, which combines more than 660 network names into one “Boingo Wireless®” network and stores the user name and password to simplify identifying and connecting to commercial Wi-Fi networks.

The program provides partners with access to this network, customized client software, and a full suite of back-office billing, roaming, mediation and clearinghouse services to allow them to offer their own Wi-Fi service quickly and cost effectively. To date, the company has announced Platform Services partnerships with BT Infonet, EarthLink, Fiberlink, Nextel Communications, Verizon Business and Skype.

About FON
FON is building the world's largest WiFi community. Founded in 2006 in Madrid, Spain, FON's mission is to stimulate growth of WiFi Internet access through its WiFi sharing Community of "Foneros". FON’s La Fonera WiFi routers have been specifically designed to enable Foneros to share their home access points with the FON Community in a completely safe and secure manner. In return for sharing, Foneros gain free WiFi access everywhere in the world they find another Fonero. FON's investors include Google, Skype, Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital. For more information, visit FON at http://www.fon.com.

About Boingo Wireless
Boingo Wireless, Inc. provides global Wi-Fi Internet access through the Boingo® Roaming System, which comprises tens of thousands hot spots in airports, hotels, cafes and other public places, including metropolitan hot zones. Business travelers can use a single Boingo account to log in at Wi-Fi networks around the world using one username and password. Boingo Roaming System services can also be private labeled by telcos, wireless operators, Internet service providers (ISP) and managed service providers (MSP) as part of their own branded services for laptops, handsets and mobile devices. Through its Concourse Communications Group LLC subsidiary, Boingo operates neutral host wireless access systems that provide wireless voice and data services supporting public and commercial interests. More information about Boingo and Concourse is available at http://www.boingo.com and http://www.concoursecommunications.com.

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Monday, May 21, 2007

FON in Belgium!

Today we are launching fonero.be together with our partners Scarlet and Tidings. Fonero.be is a new ADSL wireless broadband provider based in Antwerp, Belgium. By combining their innovative WiFi services with the FON Community, Fonero.be customers and Foneros can easily connect to the Internet using WiFi around Belgium. Pricing for this service is 29.95€ per month for 6MB service. Thanks to teaming up with Fonero.be, and Scarlet as the ADSL and voice supplier, the Belgian market will provide a dense network of FONspots that are not only important for Foneros in Belgium but also those who visit Belgium.

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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Free WiFi With Ads Update

In early April I blogged about an idea we were pursuing; free wifi for viewing ads. We continue to study and improve upon the idea, more changes are likely. I wanted to share our current ideas and get your feedback. For watching a short add someone begging for wifi would receive 15 minutes of free wifi. They could only receive this once, watching another ad would not give them more free time. Hopefully this taste of FON would encourage them to join us so they wouldn't have to beg for wifi anymore. They can purchase La Fonera and share a little wifi at home so they can roam the world for free!

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Monday, April 23, 2007

FON teams up with Time Warner Cable!

Time Warner Cable customers are invited to join the FON movement! The official press release is below. I want to thank the team at Time Warner Cable for all of their support.

If you are new to FON follow this link for details about us.

MADRID, Spain — April 23, 2007 — FON today announced a partnership with Time Warner Cable which allows Time Warner Cable broadband subscribers to access the world’s largest and fastest-growing WiFi network. The partnership specifically allows Time Warner Cable subscribers to become FON community members and create FON access points via their home or business broadband connection. Furthermore, the same subscribers would enjoy free WiFi access around the world, wherever FON has partner ISPs.

With nearly 60,000 FON community members in the U.S. alone, FON is the largest WiFi network in the United States. Hotspot providers are FON community members (called Foneros) who share their unused bandwidth via a FON router in exchange for free WiFi access when roaming through any other FON access point. Through this partnership, Time Warner Cable subscribers will have the opportunity to be members of the FON community and enjoy free unlimited WiFi access at any of FON’s partner ISP WiFi hotspots.

Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that currently operates in 33 states, with 13.4 million basic cable subscribers and 6.6 million residential high-speed data subscribers. By partnering with FON, Time Warner Cable subscribers will benefit from being able to use next generation WiFi devices such as WiFi phones, game consoles and MP3 players, both inside and outside the home.

La Fonera router is secure out-of-the-box and offers two distinct WiFi channels. One channel is for the exclusive use of its owner; the second channel is shared with other Foneros. The La Fonera increases security through an encrypted private network and Foneros decide how much bandwidth to share. Public users cannot access the private network and there is no anonymous usage.

“We are pleased to welcome Time Warner Cable subscribers to the global FON community,” said Joanna Rees, CEO of FON U.S. “Success for FON depends on extending Internet access to our user bases outside the home or office without requiring individuals to rely on costly and problematic remote access solutions.”

About FON
FON is building the world's largest WiFi community. Founded in 2006 in Madrid, Spain, FON's mission is to stimulate growth of WiFi Internet access through its WiFi sharing community of "Foneros". FON's La Fonera WiFi routers, have been specifically designed to enable Foneros to share their home access points with the FON Community. In return for sharing, Foneros gain free WiFi access everywhere in the world. FON's investors include Google, Skype, Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital. For more information, please go to www.fon.com.

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Thursday, April 19, 2007

Linksys and Buffalo Routers

Over the next 4 weeks all foneros who received a Linksys or Buffalo router from us will receive an offer for a free La Fonera. I’ve received a lot of questions about the Linksys and Buffalo routers. Below is a quick summary:

If your Linksys or Buffalo router is running an old firmware version we are unable to determine if the router is online. This prevents us from updating our maps. On the most recent firmware version this problem has been solved. If you are not running the most recent version of our firmware please check the downloads page!

For many users replacing the Linksys or Buffalo router with a free La Fonera will be the easier path. We are continuing to support the Linksys and Buffalo routers at this time. Eventually we will cease support for these. An end date has not been determined. I encourage you to take advantage of the free La Fonera offer when you receive it.

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Monday, April 2, 2007

Attention Retailers

We're extending our offer to retailers through April. If you live in an eligible area you can purchase La Fonera for 20€ to sell in your shop.

La Fonera is a special kind of WiFi router. We call it a Social Router. That’s because when you activate your La Fonera, you become part of the FON Community. Members of the FON Community share their WiFi at home, and in return get free WiFi wherever they find a FON Access Point. La Fonera is also a Social Router because you can personalize the page that other Foneros see when they log on to your FON Access Point. So you can tell people a bit about yourself or your local area, or just say ‘hi’ to your fellow Foneros.

This promotion is now available in EN, FR, IT, SW an DE! You can get more information at www.spread-fon.com

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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.

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Thursday, March 22, 2007

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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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.

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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!

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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.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

More FON in the News

We're getting a lot of press lately! Business 2.0 has featured FON in both its 25 Startups to Watch series and in the Third Screen for our Fonbucks promotion.

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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Fonbucks in Forbes

Our Fonbucks promotion is getting some attention. You can read the Forbes article here!

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Sunday, February 25, 2007

Customer Support

FON has doubled in size in the last 90 days and our customer care team is swamped with over 4,000 unanswered requests. We are working hard to get through this back log. We will respond to your request but it's going to take us some time. You should be receiving an e-mail with a poll asking what type of difficulty you had. Please take a minute to answer this as it will help us to post solutions that will benefit the most people. Thank you!

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

FON and Debitel

Great news for Debitel customers! FON and Debitel are working together to grow the FON WiFi network. Debitel customers with Nokia and other WiFi phones can call and surf for free when they find Fon WiFi. This offer will make it easier for mobile customers to choose Debitel over competitors and will help FON grow its network.

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Live Near a Starbucks?

If you live above or next to a Starbucks (or any cafe/coffee shop for that matter!), you are eligible for a free wireless router that will earn you cash from the minute you plug it in. This also means if you are a cafe, coffee shop, restaurant or other public venue you are eligible too! By installing your FON router, you let others share your broadband for a daily fee. A fee that goes straight into your pocket. A savvy patron of your Starbucks need only pay $2 a day for your WiFi. They'd have to be a grande drip to pay the $10 Starbucks charges. Each customer who chooses you puts $1 into your latte fund.
Click here for details!

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Friday, February 16, 2007

Become a FON Retailer in Europe!

We've had great success in Europe and have received many requests to set up a retail distribution process there. I'm pleased to announce our European Retailer Program. Prices below are good until March 30th 2007 so sign up early!

Here is what we're offering:
o A sleek, compact WiFi Router with state of the art components
o Up to a 70% profit margin on 20.-€ wholesale price (RRP 39.95€)
o No long-term contracts, no further costs, no small print
o Retail orders start at volumes of 50 units

More than 300.000 people worldwide have joined FON and enjoy wireless internet via FON WiFi. Over 1,000 new FON Access Points pop up around the globe every day! Sign up here to become a retailer.

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Tuesday, November 21, 2006

La Fonera Shipments

I want to apologize to the over 20,000 Foneros who are waiting to receive their Foneras. We are shipping out 5,000 this week and another 5,000 the week after. We then expect another 10,000 to go out in 3 weeks. We're manufacturing Foneras as fast as we can but so far demand has exceeded supply.

Thank you for your patience, we expect to be caught up with shipments in about 3 weeks.

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Monday, November 20, 2006

Xing and FON

Xing, formerly OpenBC, is a site dedicated to business networking and more. Here’s how they describe themselves;

XING makes your professional network an active part of your life. Far more than a directory of business contacts, XING enables its members to discover professional people, opportunities and privileges through its unique discovery capability and advanced contact management tools.

The web site is all new with an easier to use interface. Join Xing as a premium member and get a free Fonera!

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Wednesday, November 8, 2006

GSPACE and FON

As some of you have heard we recently purchased Gspace! There’s more at Gigaom.com if you want read about the acquisition. If you’re not familiar with Gspace it’s an extension for Firefox that allows you to use the 2 GB of space that comes with your Gmail account for storage. You can get Gspace free here.

Posted by Steve Ross on Business, Technology
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Saturday, October 28, 2006

La Fonera Subsidy Ending

The price of La Fonera will increase to $29.95 in the USA and 29 euros in Europe by the end of next week. We’ve been subsidizing the Foneras for $5.00 or 5 euros but they cost us about $28.00. Because we’ve been very successful in seeding the Fon movement we are planning to end the subsidies shortly. If you’ve been thinking about joining Fon, now is the time!

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Thursday, July 20, 2006

New FON Portal Coming!

Below is a preview of some enhancements we’re working on. Currently Foneros have the ability to post a welcome message and links to the webpage of your choice. Anyone within range of your wifi signal can view this without a FON account. A lot of Foneros have requested more features; so we’re adding them. In the next release we’ll expand this to include video clips from Google or YouTube, Google Maps, and photographs from Flickr! Below is a sample screen shot of what’s coming.

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Friday, May 26, 2006

Bills

The details below are not final! Your input is always appreciated.
The idea currently being discussed is to charge aliens 2 USD or Euro per 24 hours, with the purchase of 5 days. To purchase a one time use, it’s 3 USD or Euro. Half of this goes to the Bill. Payments will be made through Pay Pal. Linuses will be able to use any FON spot, Bill or not, for free. Again not final but the target live date is the end of June. Stay tuned for further details.

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Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Promoting FON

There are over 32,000 Foneros worldwide and more joining each day. All this with almost nothing spent on advertising. So, how do we continue to get the word out? I read an idea that at first I dismissed, but after thinking about it changed my mind. Marco suggested that FON provide chairs for people to sit in outside FON spots. This would be a really unique form of advertising like nothing I’ve seen. Imagine coming across a bright orange folding chair with the FON Movement logo on it. In many places this would be really out of place, thus draw a lot of attention. It’s not a conventional form of advertising, but FON’s not your typical movement.
Let me know your ideas and thoughts on promoting FON!

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Monday, May 8, 2006

Maps Update

As promised another enhancement to the Maps has been made. They now show the last 100 registered users in a selected zip code instead of only the last 20.

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Friday, May 5, 2006

Map Update Coming

The second phase of the FON Map update is in progress. As you know the maps were updated to reflect the original registered addresses late last week. Change of address notifications still need to be processed and other enhancements are scheduled as well. Currently the maps display only the last 20 FON spots in the zip code searched. The upgrade will allow the map to show all FON spots in the zip code as well as those outside of it when zooming. These updates will be completed in the near future. Eventually the maps will be enhanced to show live FON spots in green, and registered FON spots in yellow. These enhancements will eliminate the confusion caused by current maps.

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Sunday, April 16, 2006

FON USA Jobs

FON is hiring in the US. Here is the craigslist post: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/mar/151657816.html The roles are for Customer Relations and Marketing. Priority consideration is of course given to Foneros. ;-)

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Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Shipping updates

We are now shipping routers purchased in the first week of March. All routers prior to that have been shipped already and if you included your email address with your purchase you should have received a tracking confirmation. Thirty orders purchased in the month of February had delivery problems due to bad shipping address. So if you purchased your router before March and have not received a shipping number please contact us at delivery-us@fon.com

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Friday, February 10, 2006

ISPs that allow you to share

If you live in the USA you might be interested in these list of ISPs that allow sharing:
PersonalTelco list of ISPs that allow sharing
EFF list of ISPs that allow sharing

In the meantime the FON team is working hard to sign agreements with ISPs. If you are a ISP that is willing to support FON see FON for ISPs.

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Monday, January 23, 2006

WiFi Everywhere

A new promotional ad, check out the FON store

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