100,000 Belgacom Fon WiFi hotspots will be available to Belgacom internet customers and Fon customers by the end of the year. In 2012, this network will be extended to more than 500,000 WiFi hotspots, establishing Belgacom Fon as the largest WiFi network in Belgium and adding to the 4.5 million hotspots already in the Fon WiFi network worldwide.
Alex Puregger, Fon COO said: “We’re thrilled to see the first Belgacom Fon hotspots going live in Belgium. Together with Belgacom we will roll out hundreds of thousands hotspots in Belgium, adding to our global Community WiFi Network, that we are building with some of the world’s largest Telcos”
Belgacom added Fon’s WiFi-sharing technology to its secured BBox2 modem earlier this year, making it possible to broadcast two powerful, dedicated WiFi signals from a broadband internet source. One signal is encrypted and private. The other signal is public but only accessible via password. This technology allows Belgacom customers to open up their own wireless internet connection to members of the Fon WiFi community in a secure way, with no noticeable impact on their home internet experience or their TV quality, which will always be given priority.
The service is free for all Belgacom internet customers. After registering via Belgacom’s e-Services, they will receive a login and password; customers who combine their internet subscription with a Mobile One subscription (mobile voice in a Belgacom Pack) will receive an additional password and login to also surf via their smartphone.