Comments on: Speakeasy Says No FoN Deal http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/ Trusted Insights and Conversations on the Next Wave of Technology Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:24:41 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: I know what FON is until you ask me to define it at Arc Iris http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44441 I know what FON is until you ask me to define it at Arc Iris Sat, 11 Feb 2006 13:39:45 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44441 <p>[...] So I dug a bit deeper and there seem to be some objections- that the owner of FON is not as altruistic as he seems (and he has gone for some very altruistic, Barcelona-squatter-graffiti style design on the FON website). There are some  questions about what the real intention of the company is.  [...]</p> [...] So I dug a bit deeper and there seem to be some objections- that the owner of FON is not as altruistic as he seems (and he has gone for some very altruistic, Barcelona-squatter-graffiti style design on the FON website). There are some  questions about what the real intention of the company is.  [...]

]]> By: Gonzalo Navas http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44440 Gonzalo Navas Tue, 07 Feb 2006 16:22:10 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44440 <p>Perhaps people from USA thinks Fon is a well-known and great project, here in Spain. Martin Varsavsky has got that skill, it is what he does best: he gets everybody thinks many important companies and people is supporting his projects. The problem is how he does: he lies all the time. This is not the first time somebody says "what he said about us and Fon is not true" (for example, 3 months ago he claimed in his blog he had got an agreement with Jazztel, and nearly the same for Telefonica).</p> <p>Now he's got some money for the project (a very small part of the amount they would need to create a global network, anyway), but I wonder... he owns more than 500 million dollars, why doesn't he use EVEN ONE million dollar of his own money to support Fon?</p> <p>I think that Fon is, since the first moment, vaporware. It isn't working anywhere, no ISP from Spain wanted to support them, Martin doesn't put any money to support the project... The only thing the project generates is news (Martin is an expert in this area).</p> <p>In my opinion, he's trying to get what he got with Jazztel: he raised 1200 million dollars for the project and sold his part of the enterprise as soon as he could. </p> <p>Attending at what I've read about the project, the goal is the same: he is not working in order to people get wifi access to Internet through Fon (in fact, nobody's got that access by the moment), he is just working to get that somebody puts the money to take it and run.</p> <p>Anyway, Jazztel was a different history: I think Martin really wanted Jazztel to be a working project. Now I suppose Martin is much more experimented: I bet this time he will get the money much earlier.</p> <p>PS: if you're interested in Jazztel, it's a funny history: when he leaved the enterprise, investors had spended 1200 million dollars and the companied only got 10,000 clients (although it dedicated 6 millions to advertisements evey year), but he had got his goal: he was 300 million dollars richer than before.</p> Perhaps people from USA thinks Fon is a well-known and great project, here in Spain. Martin Varsavsky has got that skill, it is what he does best: he gets everybody thinks many important companies and people is supporting his projects. The problem is how he does: he lies all the time. This is not the first time somebody says “what he said about us and Fon is not true” (for example, 3 months ago he claimed in his blog he had got an agreement with Jazztel, and nearly the same for Telefonica).

Now he’s got some money for the project (a very small part of the amount they would need to create a global network, anyway), but I wonder… he owns more than 500 million dollars, why doesn’t he use EVEN ONE million dollar of his own money to support Fon?

I think that Fon is, since the first moment, vaporware. It isn’t working anywhere, no ISP from Spain wanted to support them, Martin doesn’t put any money to support the project… The only thing the project generates is news (Martin is an expert in this area).

In my opinion, he’s trying to get what he got with Jazztel: he raised 1200 million dollars for the project and sold his part of the enterprise as soon as he could.

Attending at what I’ve read about the project, the goal is the same: he is not working in order to people get wifi access to Internet through Fon (in fact, nobody’s got that access by the moment), he is just working to get that somebody puts the money to take it and run.

Anyway, Jazztel was a different history: I think Martin really wanted Jazztel to be a working project. Now I suppose Martin is much more experimented: I bet this time he will get the money much earlier.

PS: if you’re interested in Jazztel, it’s a funny history: when he leaved the enterprise, investors had spended 1200 million dollars and the companied only got 10,000 clients (although it dedicated 6 millions to advertisements evey year), but he had got his goal: he was 300 million dollars richer than before.

]]> By: Ansaria.com » Speakeasy desmiente acuerdo con FON http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44439 Ansaria.com » Speakeasy desmiente acuerdo con FON Tue, 07 Feb 2006 13:14:58 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44439 <p>[...] Om Malik on Broadband : » Speakeasy Says No FoN Deal [...]</p> [...] Om Malik on Broadband : » Speakeasy Says No FoN Deal [...]

]]> By: [blog.forret.com] http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44438 [blog.forret.com] Tue, 07 Feb 2006 11:55:56 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44438 <p><strong>FON and the art of nuances</strong></p> <p>Which leads Om Malik to comment the following:</p> <p>Seems to me that FoN made a bone-headed move on day one of their very public life.</p> FON and the art of nuances

Which leads Om Malik to comment the following:

Seems to me that FoN made a bone-headed move on day one of their very public life.

]]> By: Blog CAMYNA » Archivo del Blog » ¿Y si lo de Fon fuese un engaño? http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44437 Blog CAMYNA » Archivo del Blog » ¿Y si lo de Fon fuese un engaño? Tue, 07 Feb 2006 10:26:12 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44437 <p>[...] Leo en algunos sitios, que algunas empresas empiezan a desmentir el acuerdo con Fon. [...]</p> [...] Leo en algunos sitios, que algunas empresas empiezan a desmentir el acuerdo con Fon. [...]

]]> By: mathewingram.com/work http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44436 mathewingram.com/work Tue, 07 Feb 2006 02:17:43 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44436 <p><strong>Not a great start for FON</strong></p> <pre><code>Well, the FON network has $22-million or so from Google, Skype and Index Ventures, but it might have a bit of a credibility problem as well, after reports from one U.S. Internet service provider that contradicted what founder Martin Varsavsky said whe... </code></pre> Not a great start for FON

Well, the FON network has $22-million or so from Google, Skype and Index Ventures, but it might have a bit of a credibility problem as well, after reports from one U.S. Internet service provider that contradicted what founder Martin Varsavsky said whe...
]]> By: Puerto Ochenta :: Blog de Óscar del Río :: » Speakeasy desmiente acuerdo con Fon http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44435 Puerto Ochenta :: Blog de Óscar del Río :: » Speakeasy desmiente acuerdo con Fon Mon, 06 Feb 2006 23:44:55 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44435 <p>[...] **Si esto es cierto Martin Varsavsky mentiría en este post de su blog. Este post fue escrito el 27 de Diciembre de 2005, sólo en la versión española de su blog, por lo que al no estar en la versión Inglesa podría no haber llegado a oídos de Speakeasy. Fuentes:Om Malik’s Blog Wi-fi Networking News (Glen Fleishman) John Cook [...]</p> [...] **Si esto es cierto Martin Varsavsky mentiría en este post de su blog. Este post fue escrito el 27 de Diciembre de 2005, sólo en la versión española de su blog, por lo que al no estar en la versión Inglesa podría no haber llegado a oídos de Speakeasy. Fuentes:Om Malik’s Blog Wi-fi Networking News (Glen Fleishman) John Cook [...]

]]> By: Christian http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44434 Christian Mon, 06 Feb 2006 23:12:40 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44434 <p>4 announcements, 1 lie ?</p> 4 announcements, 1 lie ?

]]> By: mathewingram.com/work http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44433 mathewingram.com/work Mon, 06 Feb 2006 22:34:49 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44433 <p><strong>FON sounds great, but will it work?</strong></p> <pre><code>It’s nice to hear that FON, the share-your-Wi-Fi network founded by entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky, has gotten an investment from Google, along with Skype founders Niklas Zenstrom and Janus Friis - but while that is a huge vote of confidence, it ... </code></pre> FON sounds great, but will it work?

It’s nice to hear that FON, the share-your-Wi-Fi network founded by entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky, has gotten an investment from Google, along with Skype founders Niklas Zenstrom and Janus Friis - but while that is a huge vote of confidence, it ...
]]> By: David Ulevitch http://gigaom.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44432 David Ulevitch Mon, 06 Feb 2006 21:10:14 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/02/06/speakeasy-says-no-fon-deal/#comment-44432 <p>Auspicious start.</p> Auspicious start.

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