FON Taiwan

Listen up, Frappuccino-lovers — cheap Wi-Fi could be headed to a Starbucks near you. Earlier today, Madrid, Spain-based FON launched a campaign called 「FonBucks,」 a movement to hand out free wireless Internet routers (for which the company normally charges about $40) to people who live near Starbucks coffee shops.

Just how does FON plan to steal away Starbucks Internet users? By offering FON wireless routers, also known as "La Foneras," free to anyone who lives above or next to a Starbucks. The routers, which usually cost $40, split an Internet broadband connection into two wireless signals--one for personal Internet use and the second for public use, which can be accessed by anyone within range for $2 per day. The routers' owners get to pocket half of the sign-on fee, and FON takes home the rest.

Tomorrow a new startup from Spain called Whisher will launch that is adding a new twist to the concept of a WiFi sharing community. Like Fon, another Spanish startup backed by Google and Skype that is up and running with 50,000 shared WiFi hotspots around the world, the idea is that you make your WiFi router available to other members and when you are traveling or in another neighborhood you can gain access to their WiFi networks. The difference is that Fon requires you to use a WiFi router it ships to you and you have to install, whereas Whisher is a simple software download that turns your existing WiFi router into a shareable Whisher router.