Google and Skype Invest in Startup to Link Hotspots and Help Owners Charge for Wi-Fi Access
Google Inc. and eBay Inc.'s Skype are investing in FON, a Spanish startup that plans to help hotspot owners charge for Wi-Fi access, a plan that could face significant opposition from Internet service providers.
FON's idea, floated just three months ago in a Web posting by founder Martin Varsavsky, is to sign up people who have Wi-Fi hotspots, either for free or not. FON faces a hurdle in that most ISPs prohibit subscribers from sharing internet access with people outside their household. Many broadband subscribers share their access now for free, though, and it's hard for Internet service providers to stop them.
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