BOSTON----FON, the company with a vision of free and ubiquitous broadband,
marked a milestone in the US market several months ago. Its
agreement with Time Warner Cable permitting TWC subscribers to share
bandwidth created a minor splash in the press and industry. A new
insight published by Strategy Analytics, "Google-backed
FON Movimiento: Peace, Love and Free WiFi," examines the
deal and its possible implications.
“Since its early days, pay-as-you-go WiFi has
been a tenuous business model at best,” says
Ben Piper, Director of the Strategy Analytics Broadband
Network Strategies. “Few have made a
compelling case for paying upwards of $8 simply to check email, download
a presentation or surf.”
According to Piper, “While FON is poised to
become a global player, the company will need to seriously ratchet up
its marketing effort to succeed at this, and the financial backing of
Google could prove invaluable in this respect.”
David Mercer, Vice-President of the Strategy Analytics Digital
Consumer Practice points out that “’Power
to the People’ movements are nothing new, and
were it not for its high-profile financial backers, the FON story might
have fallen under the radar. However, with upwards of $30 million in two
rounds of funding from Skype, Google and Sequoia Capital, the story
becomes more intriguing.”
“FON’s stated goal
of surpassing one million hotspots in 2007 will be a key benchmark, and
is a likely tipping point for gaining the traction it needs,”
according to Piper.
About Strategy Analytics
Strategy Analytics, Inc focuses on market opportunities and disruptive
forces in the areas of Automotive Electronics and Entertainment,
Broadband Connected Home, Mobile & Wireless and Intelligent Systems
Implementation Strategies. Headquartered in Boston, MA with offices in
the UK, France, Germany, Japan, S. Korea and China, Strategy Analytics
works with its clients through annual multi-client services, management
team workshops and custom consulting engagements. www.strategyanalytics.com
