Internet phone company Skype are helping to provide free WiFi access around the world by investing in FON, a software application which turns your router into a secure hotspot.Skype invested a small but unspecified amount in the FON community, which is designed to let people share their internet connection with other FON users.
Once someone registers the free software, and becomes a ‘Fonero’, FON provides maps of where the new hotspot is located. The idea being that once you share your connection you can then use others anywhere in the world.
“What Martin Varsavsky and the people at FON are doing in making it easy for people to access Wi-Fi anywhere is exactly what we had in our minds as a logical next step (to) Skype, so we’re delighted to be a part of the FON revolution.”, Niklas Zennstr_m  and Jaanus Kase of Skype wrote on their blog.
At present, FON only supports Linksys WRT54G routers, but the company offers discounts on compatible equipment. FON was first launched three months ago, and before Skype became involved it had already attracted 3,000 Foneros.