Leading VoIP provider Skype, along with search engine leader Google and other venture capital firms have recently partnered with FON in the hope of establishing a wide-area WiFi network in Spain, through the FON initiative. FON, a community-driven group aims to connect private WiFi access points into a city- or even country-wide network, starting in Spain and eventually moving on to other areas such as the USA. The network aims to share WiFi access for data and Voice-over-Internet Protocol purposes for free or for as low a cost as possible.

The concept of FON is for private users of WiFi to share their high speed Internet connection to other members of the community in exchange for having access to others’ WiFi networks. It’s similar to a mobile phone company’s having a roaming agreement with another telco, so their users can have network access outside of their own coverage area.

For now, FON works with certain routers, particularly the WRT 54G model by Linksys. FON has struck a deal with Linksys for the sale of the router to FON users for a 50% discount—at US$ 25 each, cheap enough to be a good entry point into WiFi networking.

FON’s initiative is an interesting way to introduce VoWiFi, and may just bring Voice-over-Internet Protocol closer to the masses, if it is able to establish a wireless network wide enough to compete with traditional cellular service providers. Skype’s participation signals interest in VoWiFi’s going mainstream.