Get cheaper Wi-Fi at Starbucks

Is Starbucks getting competition for their Wi-Fi business?

Starbucks might want to consider just sticking to coffee. Because they seem to be under attack on all other fronts. The latest front they are being attacked on is on their Starbucks Wi-Fi they offer to their clients. Starbucks partners with T-Mobile to offer access to their in-store patrons at $10.00 per day.

Now there is an upstart Spanish company named Fon, who is aggressively moving into to Starbuck’s Wi-Fi world. Fon who claims to be “the largest Wi-Fi community in the World” is big in Europe where they promote the “Fon Community”. They sell wireless routers at $39.95 each. And members that buy those routers “share” access to them with other Foneros in their community. So someone who is part of the service can logon anywhere they can find a Fonero Access Point. The idea is to build a large enough community of users so that someone who is a member will have wireless access everywhere they go. Fon has been very creative in how they have marketed their product in Europe, and because of that they have picked up a huge following in just a few years.

Now Fon has their sights set on America. And their first big foray into the US wireless marketplace was to fire a shot right across Starbuck’s bow. Their Fonbucks program is offering a free router to anyone or business that is situated right next to a Starbucks. They provide Starbuck’s neighbor the free router that has two channels – a public and private. The Starbuck’s neighbor’s public Fon channel can be bought by Starbuck’s patrons for $2.00 a day. That’s compared to the $10.00 access that the Starbuck’s T-Mobile program usually charges. Fon then splits the profits – $1.00 for each – with the neighbor of Starbuck’s who installed the Fon Wi-Fi.

Fon is aggressively marketing this program and has already provided 6800 free routers in less than a month. Their advertising has said “A savvy patron of Starbucks need only pay $2 a day for WiFi. They’d have to be a grande drip to pay the $10 Starbucks charges.”

Starbuck’s has been fairly quiet in their response to this campaign. So far only saying their program with T-Mobile provides a “dedicated data line”, as opposed to just a Wi-Fi connection. But there is specualation a deal between Fon & Starbuck’s might be in the works already. Starbuck’s contract with T-Mobile expires in 2009, and Fon has already had talks with Starbucks execs about joining forces.

And guess which companies are behind Fon? The $21 Million dollar start-up is funded by Google and Ebay’s Skype. Which once again proves the point – it’s a Google World and we’re all just living in it.