Open Thy Wi-Fi And Ye Shall Receive
British Telecom and Fon, a Spanish tech firm backed by Google, are attempting to persuade British households to open up their Wi-Fi connections so that others can use them.
The question is: why?
The answer is actually not as surprising as the one we were hoping for:
“They are hoping it will push wireless broadband access, or wi-fi, into suburban and even rural areas. In return for letting other BT customers use part of their broadband connection, anyone signing up to "BT Fon" will have free access to the networks of other British "Foneros" and more than 190,000 Fon-enabled wireless access hotspots across 50 countries including the US, Japan and France.
"The UK will become the country with the most pervasive and ubiquitous wi-fi service in the world as a result of this deal," said Fon founder and chief executive Martin Varsavsky. "When you are a BT Fonero you can roam the world free. It is like an alliance of people across the world who have seen there is much more value in creating a network than in a standalone wi-fi proposition."
BT broadband customers will be able to opt in to the service from Monday with their existing home wireless equipment.”
If this initiative takes off, we're expecting to see a marked increase in public awareness regarding firewalls, and other forms of anti-hacking security.
The question is: why?
The answer is actually not as surprising as the one we were hoping for:
“They are hoping it will push wireless broadband access, or wi-fi, into suburban and even rural areas. In return for letting other BT customers use part of their broadband connection, anyone signing up to "BT Fon" will have free access to the networks of other British "Foneros" and more than 190,000 Fon-enabled wireless access hotspots across 50 countries including the US, Japan and France.
"The UK will become the country with the most pervasive and ubiquitous wi-fi service in the world as a result of this deal," said Fon founder and chief executive Martin Varsavsky. "When you are a BT Fonero you can roam the world free. It is like an alliance of people across the world who have seen there is much more value in creating a network than in a standalone wi-fi proposition."
BT broadband customers will be able to opt in to the service from Monday with their existing home wireless equipment.”
If this initiative takes off, we're expecting to see a marked increase in public awareness regarding firewalls, and other forms of anti-hacking security.
