PROJECT TO CREATE A GLOBAL WI-FI NETWORK.

Search engine Google, Internet telephony operator Skype and two venture capital groups are to invest in a Spanish start-up to help build a global wireless network, a Director of the start-up indicated on February 6. The joint investment in FON Technology SL, a company based in Madrid, will total euro 18 million, according to Fon.com Technical Director Juantomas Garcia. He confirmed that the fund providers - including Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures (which has previously invested in Skype) - aim to help FON build a network of Wi-Fi relays which, they hope, will become the first global network of its kind by the end of 2006.

The idea is that any Internet user with a broadband connection and a computer containing FON software, which can...