Share your bandwidth and roam the world!

Wireless is becoming the preferred option for today's telecommunications. Although their deployment and operation are not an easy task, its advantages are huge: communication anywhere and anytime, and each time with better speed and reliability.


One of the interesting projects that is using WiFi as base technology is the Spanish-based start-up FON. Their aim is to create a wireless network from the personal WiFi connections that users have at their homes, offices, etc., mainly aiming at residential users. They have two main types of users, basically speaking: those who share part of their bandwidth in exchange of being able to use other subscriber's hot spot, and those who share their bandwidth in exchange of a charge (part of it for the company itself). So the more subscribers that join FON, the more gain for them, as they can get braodband wireless in more sites. For more information please check the FON blog link in the section in the right. The idea is remarkable and seems to be likely to be expanded more each time. Here you have some reflections about it, what do you think?:

- The mobility is limited because the coverage is not widely spread
- By now there's no possibility to roam between access points as each one is independent and maybe from different service providers
- The core network is owned by the service providers and they won't respond on any issues and queries from users
- Quality of service is not guaranteed
- Security can be a vulnerable point

Please share with us if you know of any other innitiatives around the world similar to FON, or let us know your comments regarding any of the ideas displayed here!