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Thursday, February 8, 2007

FON Community passes 250,000 registered users, presence in over 140 countries

HONG KONG, February 8, 2007: this week FON is celebrating its very first anniversary. Launched officially one year ago in Spain, FON has revolutionized the WiFi industry with its Community of members who share WiFi. FON Hong Kong was launched three months ago, in November 2006, and the local Community has grown to just under 3,000 access points.
In its first year, the global FON Community grew to more than 250,000 registered Foneros in more than 140 countries, making it the largest WiFi community in the world. Now the world has over 100,000 FON access points, called FONspots, where Foneros can get free WiFi. FON’s growth is further accelerating with over 1,000 FONspots added daily across the globe.
These figures are no coincidence. First, FON received the support of Internet giants Google, Skype, Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures through a $21.7 million investment at the beginning of 2006. Then, throughout the year, FON reached important agreements with some of the major players in the industry.
FON entered into partnerships with major ISPs such as Neuf Cegetel, Labs2, Elitel and Interoute in Europe, and Excite and Seednet in Asia. Among gadget manufacturers, FON teamed up with Skype and Zing to provide WiFi access to FONspots on Skype Phones and Sansa WiFi enabled gadgets. Recently, FON has also launched campaigns with Skype, Paypal, Onet.pl, and Bebo to promote FON amongst their users.
FON also started 2007 with more good news. In the US, FON recently distributed 8,000 La Fonera routers in two days, thanks to a promotion with GIGAOM. In Europe, FON is launching an initiative with Clearchannel and iBand to deliver WiFi coverage throughout Oslo, Norway.
In its second year, FON will concentrate on growing and offering more services and products to its Community members. One of the ways FON will improve its Community services is by launching its new router, the La Fonera 2.0, based on Web 2.0 services. The La Fonera 2.0 frees a user’s computer from the slow process of uploading and downloading and also acts as an interface to improve the user’s Web 2.0 experience. La Fonera 2.0, like the original La Fonera, continues to offer Foneros safe and secure WiFi on the road.
FON will continue increasing its market penetration by signing agreements with retailers and e-tailers, and reaching new partnerships with major ISPs.
Looking forward to a successful second year and celebrating the first anniversary of launching FON, the entire FON team, its friends, partners, and the Media, gathered together in Madrid for a real Spanish fiesta.

About FON
FON is building the world's largest Wi-Fi 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 they find another Fonero. FON's investors include Google, Skype, Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital. For more information, visit FON at http://hk.fon.com and http://www.fon.com.

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