http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_42/b4054045.htm for the full article, an excerpt:

The BT deal should help FON’s network grow exponentially. Under the terms of the agreement, the British phone carrier will install FON’s technology in the modems of 1.7 million of its customers. In recent months, FON also has inked smaller deals to pre-install its software with cable operator Time Warner (TWX ) in the U.S. and phone carrier Neuf Cegetel in France.

Thanks to these deals, FON could become one of the few companies to cash in on the promise of Wi-Fi service. For years the technology has been promoted as the next big thing in telecommunications. But so far Wi-Fi has generated more bluster than business. Big tech players such as Intel Corp. (INTC ) and IBM (IBM ), for instance, have pulled the plug on some of their ambitious initiatives. "We view this as a transformational event," says Danny Rimer, a partner at European venture capital firm Index Ventures, which has invested in FON. "It should translate into significant revenue growth over time."

Who will win the race?

This article has some of the background.

Done any FONing lately? Most Americans have never heard of the Madrid-based tech startup called FON, but if founder Martin Varsavsky has his way, the name will enter the lexicon the way "Googled" and "Skyped" have. Thanks to a new joint venture with BT Group (BT), announced on Oct. 4, he may have a shot.

There were several blog mentions on this, I took the image from there announcing the birth of BT FON, Congratulations to BT and FON to quote:

Now the Net is abuzz with the news: FON has joined forces with BT to make FON accessible to over 3 million of BT’s Total Broadband customers, creating a potentially unrivalled WiFi community.

Congratulations to FON for this fantastic news, from the original post:

Neuf Cegetel, the number one alternative carrier in France with over 3.5 million subscribers, and FON have updated the Neuf Box 4 (the latest Neuf Router, based on open source operating system) so Neuf subscribers can activate the new Neuf WiFi FON service, share their WiFi with Foneros around the globe, and get free WiFi access on all FON Spots everywhere. Already more than 500,000 Neuf Boxes have been centrally enabled with this FON software upgrade and the subscribers can now become WiFi sharers and receivers. By the end of 2007, around 1 million Neuf Boxes will have been upgraded with FON functionality.

Again Congratulations FON, this is a fantastic develop and a huge step forward in a WiFi free world!

In the cover article of CNBC Europe, the full article is here.

The one thing that caught me was the news that a new router will be released that can go up to 400m in range! Cool.

FON’s premise is that subscribers agree to share their existing internet connection via a router that the company provides. This means that someone in your street can be surfing the web via your router, which beams out its Wi-Fi hotspot over 100 m. In return, those who sign up receive a user name and password allowing them to access other FON hotspots worldwide without having to pay a cent. Significantly, non-participants in the scheme can also access a FON hotspot at a cost of $3 (€2.20) per day, some $7 cheaper than the typical fee charged by established hotspot providers. A new router scheduled for release later this year promises a 400 m range, meaning extortionate hotel internet charges could soon be a thing of the past as free Wi-Fi is beamed over from an office or café four streets away.

I’ve seen FON in IFC before but never checked it out more as usually I am in a mad rush when I am in there buying stuff or going to a meeting, so today I’m going to write a bit more about it since I had dinner there and as I walked around this popular Mall while it was empty I was actually able to see exactly what was going on there!

The Signal was very strong on the 1st and 2nd Level closest to Mikimoto (famous for pearls) and Prada (famous for really very expensive fashion). So for all the bored boyfriends/husbands who need to wait as their other half does the Shopping, they can download stuff at super high speeds! Yeehaa!

Obviously IFC is a very popular location and I was not surprised to see excellent coverage of all sorts of Wi-Fi signals, I was surprised not to see PCCW but HKBN and CSL were there as well, the other signal I think was random and one was obviousy secure. I didn’t realize CSL was also offering Wi-Fi services.

The most interesting thing was that the Signal held out all the way into the Lane Crawford which is a level above, and is also very popular, so now at least I know that if I need to get my quick download Fix, this is where I go in IFC! I haven’t done more thorough checking but the Signal was best in those areas I thought but I welcome any other FON findings!

Courtesy of Flickr images via blog.fon.com/hk

FON @ 電腦節 2007

FON 將於 8月24日至27日在香港會議展覽中心舉行的電腦節 2007 與大家見面。為慶祝 FON 的 La Fonera 路由器被大會評選為「最物超所值產品」，所有入場人仕可於 FON 的攤位（N33-40）以熱爆價 HK$99 購買原價 $119 的 La Fonera 路由器一個。除此之外，FON 最新推出的La Fonera+ 路由器、La Fontenna 天線和FON USB WiFi Adaptor 在場內均以優惠價發售！

8月24日至27日，記得前往電腦節 2007 選購你心愛的 FON 產品，一起加入 FON 這個全球最大的 WiFi 社群吧！

FON Spots @ 香港

FON 會員可以免費連接全球任何一個 FON 熱點 (FON Spot)。在香港，除了由 FON 會員提供的四千多個 FON Spots 外，我們更與各商號及機構合作，不繼擴充網絡覆蓋範圍，務求做到 WiFi WHEREWHERE!

為方便大家搜尋FON Spots, 除原有的 FON MAP 外，我們亦將部份特約無線上網熱點的地址上載到這裡。若你擁有一個在有利位置的 FON Spot，歡迎向我們報料，好讓我們把你的熱點加進資料庫並對外公佈。

In the crossing opposite New Henry House and Lee Garden 1 and 2 which is pretty much in the heart of one of the busiest shopping and office areas in Causeway I was amazed to discover a FON signal, and a very strong one as well that obviously was spilling over from some office location.

The signal was this one, FON_InTheBuff so I looked around and saw the signal around me came from a Nail place called In the Buff, I may have to check it out one day! In any event, those who know Hong Kong can tell, this is a very busy location, so well done to FON for making it available in one of the major shopping districts in Hong Kong, this entire street is FON enabled.

What surprised me was how strong the Signal was, despite me not knowing where it came from, and the entire area had FON, very cool, it had the same signal strength as PCCW and you could see that alone on this street there were two different FON signals (and more as I walk down).

This building with the Omega had FON inside as well, which is right around the corner. It is very encouraging to me!

I found the FON signal on IFC (International Finance Center), specifically the Terrace area and also the Lobby area, I guess one of them is the restaurant Le Bernard Gouter, but there were several signals there as well such as H1 and G1, it’s turning out to be a good FON Spot area.