I think it is very clear what Google's strategy is, or rather has to be. I think it is getting ready to do a wireless Telco buy. Because everything is rapidly being walled up into gated communities, and the gatekeepers are the cable companies and the wireless mobile phone companies (the land-liners are toast).
Those walled gardens can shut Google out, or put Google a click or two away....and on a mobile phone that might as well be Siberia, you are going to use the first search box you see and it doesn't have to be Google.
This is the battle for the last-mile--whoever controls the entry into the digital home controls a very lucrative content market.
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"Founded just three months ago by serial entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky, FON's objective is to build a global WiFi network bottom up, with one million hot spots by 2010. To do this, FON users, or 'foneros,' are able to connect to the Internet via Fon WiFi hotspots provided by other foneros. For foneros, the development of the FON global network means they will be able to connect to the Internet safely and securely all around the globe. For service and application providers such as Skype and Google, the FON network makes their services more ubiquitously available. For ISPs, FON provides a way to expand their reach globally. For developers, the FON network is a new platform for creating and delivering services on a global scale.
With a simple download-and-install approach, similar to Skype's, FON is a secure 'by-the-people, for-the-people' network. FON has registered 3,000 members since it went live with a beta of its service in November, 2005. The company plans to use its funding to grow the network of foneros and support the growth of WiFi worldwide, particularly in countries where broadband is currently unaffordable to most people.
FON will drive its revenue from a multi-tiered subscription model. Members sign up in one of three foneros categories: Linus, Bill or Alien."
1 comment:
foneros published a map of foneros in your neighborhood.
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