FON enthusiastic about the latest Government WiFi plan, but...

The Hong Kong government is proposing to spend 210 million Hong Kong dollars (USD 26.9 million) for the project. At FON we believe investing in WiFi infrastructure (local and global) is extremely important, however we think that the HKD 210 million price tab for this project could be lowered drastically.

As an example, if the government were to deploy FON instead, the price to provide WiFi coverage on government sites would be reduced to a small fraction – say about 8 or 9 percent of the proposed HKD 210 million sum. A distinct feature of a FON deployment, obviously, is that FONspots can be accessed only by other registered Foneros, whereas the government may want the service to be freely available to the public (but hey, being a Fonero is free!).

There would also be distinct advantages to using FON rather than completely open and uncontrolled WiFi implementations: FON, after all, is more secure and less prone to abuse than an uncontrolled public signal. And the community aspect of FON means that WiFi coverage accelerates as the membership grows, while the partnerships and deals pursued by FON guarantee a healthy range of new and exciting applications, such as FON and Skype integration plus the FON Connector for Nokia WiFi mobile phones. Finally, FON is a global network with global advantages, such as free global WiFi roaming across over 100,000 FONspots worldwide in over 140 countries.

Still, the government initiative is commendable because Hong Kong WiFi coverage currently in place can be somewhat patchy. FON provides the most hotspots in this city, currently close to 4,000 and growing. The other local WiFi operators combined (there are over two dozen) account for just a couple of thousands of WiFi access points, and coverage tends to be limited to specific zones. With the proposal to offer public WiFi at its venues, the Hong Kong government is doing its part to bring WiFi into the mainstream – truly an appropriate move for Asia’s World City.

Posted by FON Team on General
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