Fon for free? They don't get it...

Om has a post over on his site about Fon. I have been watching it for a while and considered getting involved in Thailand, but it's not really much of a franchise operation (no startup packs and collateral for people helping the movement) and I'm not sure I can spare enough time for it.

I have posted some opinions about the real value behind it, though and reading Oms readers replies, I'm not sure they see the value!

I don't think the aim of Fon is to make money from access to WiFi. They need a hook to get cafes and centrally located organisations on board, because those people are not able to see the long game.
So what if people sign-up to Linuses, instead of paying for network access?? You just extended the Fon network! The key here is penetration and you need to get a lot of penetration before it starts to be compelling.
I see it as being useful for kids who want to move around their neighborhoods with their WiFi enabled gadgets - PSPs, iPods, mobile phones, Nokia 770s.
Perhaps, if enough businesses can be convinced to offer it, then it may become a useful business service, but it will suffer the exact same problems that Joltage did, except now, it doesn't matter if you don't make money from the access, because you can have the 'presence', and Skype showed that that is worth billions...(ahem!)

With the right software, I believe it, but Skype wasn't there yet (and looks like it's off down a blind alley), Fon may get there, but I haven't seen any evidence of a broader understanding on their part. I hope they don't really believe the 'Bills' angle, but they can't really come out and admit it, can they?

To paraphrase the song 'I believe the children are Fon's future, treat them well....and show them all the devices they have with Wifi access'