The ZON@FON WiFi Community in Portugal

Looks like Fon is at it again by teaming up with another established Wifi network. (I highlighted some on the interesting points below). It will be interesting to see how this partnership turns out and IF we will ever find out if Fon's number of anticipated hotspots through this partnership becomes a reality.

"Rodrigo Costa, CEO of ZON Multimédia, and Martin Varsavsky, Founder and CEO of FON announced today the launch of ZON@FON Free WiFi Community, a free WiFi service that will allow ZON Netcabo’s 400.000 customers to be part of the world’s largest WiFi Community.

The service is based on the revolutionary idea of a massive WiFi network, built through the contribution of individual customers to allow everyone, everywhere free access to the Internet.

From launch, ZON@FON will be Portugal’s largest WiFi network, with over 2.500 hotspots and part of the world’s largest wireless community, with over 250.000 hotspots worldwide.

The goal of the partnership is to dramatically increase the number of hotspots in the country, and contribute to the overall growth of the FON global community.

ZON@FON aims to have over 100.000 hotspots in Portugal, providing nearly ubiquitous connectivity to the Internet, further strengthening the offer of Zon Netcabo, Portugal’s broadband pioneer and innovation leader.

Anyone who uses a ZON@FON compatible router will host a hotspot that is based in a separate, secure channel, independent from their personal WiFi network.

ZON Netcabo will deploy access equipment with embedded ZON@FON functionality that will allow customers to host their own hotspot at no additional cost.

The internet connection provided by ZON Netcabo will carry all the hotspot’s traffic, but it will be separate from the user’s traffic and will not reduce the bandwidth from his internet access. This innovation was possible thanks to the superior speed and flexibility that cable networks offer, and was developed by FON and ZON exclusively for the ZON@FON Free WiFi Community.

The ZON@FON Free Internet Community will boost the usage of a whole new generation of devices, including: game consoles, GPS’s, cellular phones, PDA’s, I-Phones, in addition to traditional laptop computers.

About ZON Multimedia
With over 1,5 million TV, 400 thousand broadband and 200 thousand fixed line customers ZON Multimedia is Portugal’s leading provider of triple play offers. Originally a cable TV operator, ZON now offers multiple services across several platforms: cable, satellite, adsl and is now launching a Mobile Virtual Network Operator. Additionally, ZON is Portugal leading content distribution and cinema exhibition company, though its ZON Lusomundo business.

For more information, visit ZON at http://www.zon.pt

About FON
FON is the world’s largest WiFi community. FON’s mission is to stimulate the growth of WiFi around the world by creating a global community of “Foneros”. FON’s La Fonera routers have been designed to enable Foneros to share their home Internet access in a completely secure manner. Founded in February 2006 in Madrid, Spain, FON investors include Google, Skype, British Telecom, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Coral Capital Management and Excite Japan. Currently FON has close to 1 Million registered members in Europe, Asia and America.
For more information, visit FON at http://www.fon.com"

The usual links:

Martin's Blog: "Fon and Zon launch the ZON@FON WiFi Community in Portugal"

Fon Blog: "NEW ZON@FON FREE WiFi COMMUNITY AIMS TO COVER PORTUGAL WITH 100.000 FREE HOTSPOTS"

Fon Boards: "Fon & Zon, new partnership in Portugal (Press Release)"