Two Czech companies are encouraging customers to share their broadband connections via Wi-Fi and charge their neighbors: Customers subscribe to DSL from Wia, a service provider. WideNet sets them up with the Wi-Fi gear and then publishes the location of the site. Then nearby residents who may want to use the network buy a Wi-Fi card. When the nearby residents first go online they will see a page that asks for credit card information. They pay less the longer the subscription they sign up for. The AP owner gets 65 percent of the revenue, which is collected and distributed by WideNet.
Speakeasy has a similar deal where if a customer decides to use Wi-Fi to share their connection with neighbors, Speakeasy will bill the neighbor for the customer. The key here is that Speakeasy in the United States and Wia in the Czech Republic are broadband service providers and they approve of sharing. Other service providers, like Time Warner in New York, aren't so happy about sharing.