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Fon raises $13 million in funding round

Marguerite Reardon Former senior reporter
Marguerite Reardon started as a CNET News reporter in 2004, covering cellphone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate and the consolidation of the phone companies.
Marguerite Reardon

Spanish start-up Fon Wireless has raised 10 million euros, or $13 million, in venture capital funding. This brings its total funding to date to $35 million. A year ago, the company--which has developed Wi-Fi routers to allow broadband subscribers to share their Internet connections with Wi-Fi users throughout their communities--raised money from tech heavyweights Google and Skype.

A Fon representative said that the latest round of funding included four non-U.S. investors who had not previously invested in the company. Om Malik at GigaOm speculated in his blog on Tuesday that British Telecom is one of the new investors. He went on to say that Fon has been rumored to be partnering with BT to bundle its software with BT Wi-Fi gateways to offer dual-mode Wi-Fi and cellular phone service.

Fon says it now has more than 320,000 members and 120,000 Wi-Fi access points, 60,000 of which were added in the past 60 days. The company has been giving away its routers for free to build out its network. About 48,000 users are registered in the U.S.