Comments on: FON Gives Away More Free Stuff http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/ Trusted Insights and Conversations on the Next Wave of Technology Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:44:08 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Nico http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71155 Nico Mon, 09 Apr 2007 21:29:56 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71155 <p>The quality of broadband access will definitely be a key aspect of the equation.</p> <p>In favor of FON: the price of broadband in the US, which is outrageously expensive compared to the quality (downtime) and to the rates you get (3 Mbps is considered premium). This definitely gives financial incentives to share your broadband, and eventually make money out of it, even if your provider conditions of use prevent it.</p> <p>Not in favor of FON: the quality and the availability of broadband in the US (mentioned above), which makes the coverage of FON spotty, and the quality of the service unsure.</p> <p>When you compare this to Europe, where you have triple play services (unlimited VoIP, +20M Internet, and IP TV/broadcast TV) for 30-40 euros a month, the value proposition of FON does make sense. People don't mind sharing their connection as it is already very cheap. People are not "afraid" of connecting to FON, because they know that the average Internet connection is reliable. FON allows a connection on the go, among other things. Some European operators (BT in UK, Neuf Cegetel and Erenis in France) understood the value of FON as a differentiator in their offers.</p> <p>To summarize my point, if there was more competition in the US in the access, bringing innovation and enhanced services, increasing penetration, FON would have greater chances to succeed. The key remains in the access more than ever: ubiquitous access, faster broadband, cheaper service. These are the 3 keys to success for FON.</p> <p>Signed: a European Telecom guy living in the US</p> The quality of broadband access will definitely be a key aspect of the equation.

In favor of FON: the price of broadband in the US, which is outrageously expensive compared to the quality (downtime) and to the rates you get (3 Mbps is considered premium). This definitely gives financial incentives to share your broadband, and eventually make money out of it, even if your provider conditions of use prevent it.

Not in favor of FON: the quality and the availability of broadband in the US (mentioned above), which makes the coverage of FON spotty, and the quality of the service unsure.

When you compare this to Europe, where you have triple play services (unlimited VoIP, +20M Internet, and IP TV/broadcast TV) for 30-40 euros a month, the value proposition of FON does make sense. People don’t mind sharing their connection as it is already very cheap. People are not “afraid” of connecting to FON, because they know that the average Internet connection is reliable. FON allows a connection on the go, among other things. Some European operators (BT in UK, Neuf Cegetel and Erenis in France) understood the value of FON as a differentiator in their offers.

To summarize my point, if there was more competition in the US in the access, bringing innovation and enhanced services, increasing penetration, FON would have greater chances to succeed. The key remains in the access more than ever: ubiquitous access, faster broadband, cheaper service. These are the 3 keys to success for FON.

Signed: a European Telecom guy living in the US

]]> By: quixote http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71154 quixote Sat, 03 Feb 2007 03:35:40 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71154 <p>I'm part of FON, and some of the comments above are justified. Some aren't. I got on board long enough ago that I paid (a reduced rate) for my router. One of the attractions for me was that it was all set up to go, since I'm not much of a geek. As soon as I received the router, I was told to upgrade the firmware and do all sorts of time-consuming and effortful stuff I'd been hoping to avoid. This was annoying, and delayed me becoming part of the network by months. Take home message there is that FON needs to have ready-to-go routers, and/or one-click installs, with a lot more support than they do now. (Their support people are very good, they're just way overworked.) They also need to stop crippling their routers. Bloody stupid.</p> <p>All that said, it was very convenient on a couple of occasions to hop onto someone else's network when I was out of town. Yes, it's the sort of thing that's more useful with more people, but I think assuming there won't be more people connected is like betting against the tide.</p> I’m part of FON, and some of the comments above are justified. Some aren’t. I got on board long enough ago that I paid (a reduced rate) for my router. One of the attractions for me was that it was all set up to go, since I’m not much of a geek. As soon as I received the router, I was told to upgrade the firmware and do all sorts of time-consuming and effortful stuff I’d been hoping to avoid. This was annoying, and delayed me becoming part of the network by months. Take home message there is that FON needs to have ready-to-go routers, and/or one-click installs, with a lot more support than they do now. (Their support people are very good, they’re just way overworked.) They also need to stop crippling their routers. Bloody stupid.

All that said, it was very convenient on a couple of occasions to hop onto someone else’s network when I was out of town. Yes, it’s the sort of thing that’s more useful with more people, but I think assuming there won’t be more people connected is like betting against the tide.

]]> By: word http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71153 word Wed, 01 Nov 2006 19:18:14 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71153 <p>when has infrastructure ever been free? do you think we'll have free cellular service, cable tv, etc.? it's not a viable model.</p> when has infrastructure ever been free? do you think we’ll have free cellular service, cable tv, etc.? it’s not a viable model.

]]> By: themandarin http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71152 themandarin Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:26:41 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71152 <p>Free wireless and even free broadband will come.</p> <p>Less than 20% of the total population in the world has internet (broadband or wireless). </p> <p>How else can this industry keep growing? Goggle and skype DO know what they are doing.</p> Free wireless and even free broadband will come.

Less than 20% of the total population in the world has internet (broadband or wireless).

How else can this industry keep growing? Goggle and skype DO know what they are doing.

]]> By: aeonsafe http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71151 aeonsafe Mon, 30 Oct 2006 13:38:40 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71151 <p>500 routers covers 1/5th of a square mile, not 1/2. When viewed in three dimensions, the coverage is even less. </p> <p>In a month, most of these routers will sit in a closet shelf with other freebies. It's an expensive way to scatter brochures into the wind at $50 cost each.</p> 500 routers covers 1/5th of a square mile, not 1/2. When viewed in three dimensions, the coverage is even less.

In a month, most of these routers will sit in a closet shelf with other freebies. It’s an expensive way to scatter brochures into the wind at $50 cost each.

]]> By: David http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71150 David Mon, 30 Oct 2006 02:07:16 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71150 <p>"plus once the company gets to a sizable amount of users there are other ways to bring in revenue from a large community."</p> <p>They will probably go the normal route of inserting wifi interstitials, rewriting pages, proxying, etc. Basically anything annoying you can imagine.</p> <p>Of course they won't do this until they have a large deployed footprint because otherwise nobody would ever be dumb enough to deploy it.</p> <p>-david</p> “plus once the company gets to a sizable amount of users there are other ways to bring in revenue from a large community.”

They will probably go the normal route of inserting wifi interstitials, rewriting pages, proxying, etc. Basically anything annoying you can imagine.

Of course they won’t do this until they have a large deployed footprint because otherwise nobody would ever be dumb enough to deploy it.

-david

]]> By: LG http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71149 LG Sun, 29 Oct 2006 22:01:29 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71149 <p>Maybe we could get kids on scooters to ride around town, delivering them to people's doors? We could call the new venture kozfon!</p> Maybe we could get kids on scooters to ride around town, delivering them to people’s doors? We could call the new venture kozfon!

]]> By: Jason http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71148 Jason Sat, 28 Oct 2006 23:14:33 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71148 <p>Free wireless is going to be huge. Lets say Google invests billions, if every user is forced to visit Google.com when they log on, it would be worth it. It's a win-win that most people would welcome with open arms. Be patient, it will happen eventually.</p> Free wireless is going to be huge. Lets say Google invests billions, if every user is forced to visit Google.com when they log on, it would be worth it. It’s a win-win that most people would welcome with open arms. Be patient, it will happen eventually.

]]> By: anonymous http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71147 anonymous Sat, 28 Oct 2006 21:01:52 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71147 <p>500 Linksys access points, each with a range of 100 feet? Great. If they all get plugged in and turned on, 1/2 of a square mile of San Francisco will have wireless.</p> 500 Linksys access points, each with a range of 100 feet? Great. If they all get plugged in and turned on, 1/2 of a square mile of San Francisco will have wireless.

]]> By: Roupen N. http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71146 Roupen N. Sat, 28 Oct 2006 17:13:36 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71146 <p>The U.S. (even California - even Northern California) is too big for something like this to gain enough momentum to matter. </p> <p>FON have the Google map mashup going on their site - enter your zip and see FON Hotspots are around you. I did that and I was hearing crickets (nothing) for miles and miles… </p> <p>Maybe in smaller geographies like Estonia or Armenia or something and you would get enough DENSITY of users… I dont see this getting anywhere in the U.S. NOT TO MENTION Muni-Fi and Metro-Fi.</p> <p>The article ends with "…so maybe they [Google/Skype] know something we don’t." I keep saying the same thing but I am not seeing even a hint of what that might be.</p> The U.S. (even California – even Northern California) is too big for something like this to gain enough momentum to matter.

FON have the Google map mashup going on their site – enter your zip and see FON Hotspots are around you. I did that and I was hearing crickets (nothing) for miles and miles…

Maybe in smaller geographies like Estonia or Armenia or something and you would get enough DENSITY of users… I dont see this getting anywhere in the U.S. NOT TO MENTION Muni-Fi and Metro-Fi.

The article ends with “…so maybe they [Google/Skype] know something we don’t.” I keep saying the same thing but I am not seeing even a hint of what that might be.

]]> By: nacho http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71145 nacho Sat, 28 Oct 2006 10:32:28 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71145 <p>Nobody knows how this is going to work. Effort and solidarity among users is a good idea, but we do the same sharing the broadband wifi connection in every building. More reliable and the same prize.</p> Nobody knows how this is going to work. Effort and solidarity among users is a good idea, but we do the same sharing the broadband wifi connection in every building. More reliable and the same prize.

]]> By: Chetan http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71144 Chetan Sat, 28 Oct 2006 05:50:00 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71144 <p><i>plus once the company gets to a sizable amount of users there are other ways to bring in revenue from a large community</i> Social networking the Hard-ware way. J/K</p> plus once the company gets to a sizable amount of users there are other ways to bring in revenue from a large community Social networking the Hard-ware way. J/K

]]> By: pegasus http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71143 pegasus Sat, 28 Oct 2006 03:52:22 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71143 <p>1) FON is supported by google and ebay, cisco/linksys… both have huge interest in making more people go online and making internet a greater part of the people's daily life.</p> <p>2) fon routers are avaliable for 5$.. they are the regular 30$ linksys routers… with some modifications. so quality is good</p> 1) FON is supported by google and ebay, cisco/linksys… both have huge interest in making more people go online and making internet a greater part of the people’s daily life.

2) fon routers are avaliable for 5$.. they are the regular 30$ linksys routers… with some modifications. so quality is good

]]> By: anon http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71142 anon Sat, 28 Oct 2006 03:24:17 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71142 <p>FON? No biz model, useless services, broken routers … It is simply amazing that media still covers them. </p> <p>FON is a vaporware. They are giving away free routers because nobody is buying them. What does FON have to lose? It's VC money.</p> FON? No biz model, useless services, broken routers … It is simply amazing that media still covers them.

FON is a vaporware. They are giving away free routers because nobody is buying them. What does FON have to lose? It’s VC money.

]]> By: Bill http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71141 Bill Sat, 28 Oct 2006 02:07:14 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71141 <p>The #1 problem FON has is that the routers are in utterly useless areas 99% of the time. They will be in the suburbs or similar useless places. </p> <p>Not to mention the amount of broken internet connections people have. I wouldn't be very happy to pay the €3 just to find out that the backhaul internet is broken, disconnects every 2 seconds or hopelessly slow.</p> The #1 problem FON has is that the routers are in utterly useless areas 99% of the time. They will be in the suburbs or similar useless places.

Not to mention the amount of broken internet connections people have. I wouldn’t be very happy to pay the €3 just to find out that the backhaul internet is broken, disconnects every 2 seconds or hopelessly slow.

]]> By: Jesse Kopelman http://gigaom.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71140 Jesse Kopelman Sat, 28 Oct 2006 02:01:36 +0000 http://gigaom.wordpress.com/2006/10/27/fon-giveaway/#comment-71140 <p>Google and Skype are investors, but they don't need FON to be profitable for their investments to be worthwhile. The key for them is that access to broadband be as low cost and ubiquitous as possible. If FON is able to put pressure on incumbent operators, even while slowly bleeding to death from negative cashflow, that will be good enough for Google et al.</p> Google and Skype are investors, but they don’t need FON to be profitable for their investments to be worthwhile. The key for them is that access to broadband be as low cost and ubiquitous as possible. If FON is able to put pressure on incumbent operators, even while slowly bleeding to death from negative cashflow, that will be good enough for Google et al.

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