Fon and Belgacom Set up Largest WiFi Network in Belgium, Launch 100,000 Hotspots

BRUSSELS & MADRID--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fon, the world’s largest WiFi network, and Belgacom, Belgium’s biggest telecommunications company, today announced 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.

“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”

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”

Thanks to the partnership, Belgacom customers can take their home internet experience with them on the go, in residential and public areas. Belgacom customers will immediately gain access to the Belgacom Fon WiFi network and will be able to connect to it from anywhere in Belgium as well as in the Fon network abroad, from London to Tokyo. Fon customers will benefit from ever-growing access to WiFi throughout Belgium.

Belgacom added Fon’s revolutionary 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, and 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.

About Fon:

Fon CEO, entrepreneur and internet pioneer Martin Varsavsky founded Fon in 2006 with the goal of free, ubiquitous WiFi for everyone. Today, Fon is the largest WiFi community in the world, providing WiFi at over 4.5 million Fon hotspots and to over 6 million users. Fon partners with the world's leading fixed and mobile Telcos, hardware manufacturers and service providers, all who share the vision of a joint WiFi community. Fon's investors include Atomico, British Telecom, the Coral Group, Google, Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Skype. For more information: www.fon.com

About Belgacom:

The Belgacom Group [Euronext: BELG]. Drawing on its solid experience as Belgium's national telecom operator and the multiple talents of its teams, the Belgacom Group is the main provider of integrated telecommunication services in Belgium. Thanks to its continuous investments in cutting-edge technology, Belgacom is able to offer its private and professional customers telephony, Internet and television services around the clock, irrespective of location and the access device used. For the fiscal year ending 31 December 2010, the Group posted a total revenue of €6.603 billion and a net operating profit before depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €1.984 billion.