The A to Z of wireless

F is for FON

FON is the company behind a wi-fi sharing venture that gives its members access to hundreds of thousands of wi-fi hotspots.

FON users - known as Foneros - agree to securely share a portion of their home internet connection with other members and in return gain access to the other Foneros' wi-fi, with speeds capped at up to 512Kbps.

The business was launched in Spain in 2005 and the wi-fi company went on to sign an agreement with BT that saw the telco offer FON membership to all of its broadband customers.

According to BT, there are now in excess of 100,000 hotspots in the UK - and more than 250,000 worldwide.

By agreeing to share wi-fi resources web users can help spread wireless connectivity in towns and villages without the need for companies or councils to stump up cash to fund equivalent municipal networks.

Financial backers of FON include Google and Skype - both companies with obvious incentives to ramp up web access.

FON advert in San Francisco (Photo credit: Steve Rhodes via Flickr.com under the following Creative Commons licence)