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_pmf_

> This is quite common in Europe.

The fuck it is.

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I live in France & all the major telcos* do this. It's an advertised part of the services.

* At least: Orange, Bouygues, SFR, Free.

As well as those listed by other commenters, there are other FON collaborations listed here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BTFON#Collaborations

Belgium, Germany, Greece, Jersey...

Both the Netherlands and Belgium have ISPs that do this, with the slight difference that they Wifi is only accessible to customers of the same ISP.

I know for a fact that at least two major ISPs in France already do this (SFR, Free).

and in Spain, Germany, Portugal, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Which covers quite a lot of Europe already, not even counting the rest of the places that do this.

Parent comment provided a source.

But not for the actual claim of "quite common in Europe". I am in Europe it's inconceivable that any common carrier would try and pull a stunt like this here.

UK doesn't have any concept of "commin carrier".

BT, a large company in the UK, has done exactly this, using a collaboration with FON to start but using their own tech now. This has been happening for years.

http://ais.globalservices.bt.com/static/assets/insights_and_...

EDIT: the wikipedia article shows many FON collaborations with large telecoms providers across Europe.

Yep, except Fon has an opt-out option, it's opt-in to begin with in a lot of places and it's done with user's knowledge and explicit permission, not behind their backs as Comcast did it.

So, no, what Comcast did is not quite common in Europe.

Comcast's service has an opt out option and was announced a year ago. I don't like to be standing up for them, but you are misrepresenting things a bit.

Here's Fon's figures from 8 years ago -

1 – Spain – 6344 (28 new yesterday) registered users

2 – United States – 6334 (11 new yesterday) registered users

3 – France – 2571 (15 new yesterday) registered users

4 – Germany – 1302 (12 new yesterday) registered users

5 – Italy – 1269 (15 new yesterday) registered users

6 – United Kingdom – 1039 (4 new yesterday) registered users

7 – Netherlands – 760 (2 new yesterday) registered users

8 – Sweden – 721 (1 new yesterday) registered users

9 – Argentina – 636 (3 new yesterday) registered users

10 – Canada – 382 (0 new yesterday) registered users

11 – Switzerland – 331 (1 new yesterday) registered users

12 – Belgium – 296 (0 new yesterday) registered users

13 – Portugal – 237 (0 new yesterday) registered users

14 – Mexico – 208 (0 new yesterday) registered users

15 – Japan – 198 (2 new yesterday) registered users

16 – Chile – 195 (0 new yesterday) registered users

17 – Austria – 177 (1 new yesterday) registered users

18 – Ireland – 170 (0 new yesterday) registered users

19 – Brazil – 169 (0 new yesterday) registered users

20 – Denmark – 135 (1 new yesterday) registered users

21 – Israel – 129 (0 new yesterday) registered users

22 – Norway – 125 (0 new yesterday) registered users

23 – China – 120 (0 new yesterday) registered users

24 – Australia – 109 (1 new yesterday) registered users

25 – Finland – 108 (0 new yesterday) registered users

26 – Poland – 85 (0 new yesterday) registered users

27 – India – 77 (1 new yesterday) registered users

28 – Colombia – 74 (0 new yesterday) registered users

29 – Venezuela – 71 (0 new yesterday) registered users

30 – Estonia – 63 (0 new yesterday) registered users

http://english.martinvarsavsky.net/fon/fonas-top-30-countrie...

and their current map - http://maps.fon.com/

And how many are auto-enabled by the ISPs without any notice and no way to opt-out?

How do I disable/enable the XFINITY WiFi Home Hotspot feature?

We encourage all subscribers to keep this feature enabled as it allows more people to enjoy the benefits of XFINITY WiFi around the neighborhood. You will always have the ability to disable the XFINITY WiFi feature on your Wireless Gateway by calling 1-800-XFINITY. You can also visit My Account at http://customer.comcast.com/, click on “Users & Preferences”, and then select “Manage XFINITY WiFi.”

http://wifi.comcast.com/faqs.html

edit - and it was announced in June of last year apparently. Though they may have had a sign on the door saying 'beware of the leopard'.

We also have it in Africa... Although only relatively new.

look at this map - http://www.btfon.com/maps

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