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Spanish Firm Launches Hot Spot Sharing Initiative

FON, the Spanish firm, started promoting their global wireless internet vision. The company, backed by information giant Google, is offering money to home or business internet connections that will turn into "hot spots." FON announced that it will hand out one million internet routers that would let hot spot owners share in small daily fees charged to roaming computer users.

The Spanish firm aims to create a global wireless community. "Five bucks for a router and then you can go anywhere you want and surf the Internet for free," Juergen Urbanski, who heads FON`s North America operations from San Francisco, told AFP. "That is pretty cool when it comes to leveling the playing field. People want to be good, people want to share, people want to feel they are at home in a community, and this provides a really low cost way to do that."

Many US companies are helping FON to realize their vision. More than 22 million dollars were transferred to FON by Google, eBay`s Skype, and Silicon Valley venture capitalists. Already FON is reporting about 54,000 registered members and the number is growing daily. Registered users can use each other`s hot spots free of charge no matter where they are in the world, according to Jean-Bernard Magescas, head of FON operations in France, Africa, and the Middle East.