Wi-Fi for the masses

Months of hard work has paid off for New Zealand Wi-Fi specialist Tomizone as it continues to expand into the global market.Tomizone, founded last year by a group of entrepreneurs, provides free integrated software which enables compatible Wi-Fi routers to share internet bandwidth.This is then connected to the global Tomizone service platform that collects revenue, governs usage and distributes funds to the owners of a Tomizone hotspot. Tomizone software is now fully integrated into selected D-Link wireless routers - DI-524UP and DIR-300 - in an affiliation that takes the company into the major league.Steve Simms, Tomizone CEO, is thrilled with the D-Link deal and says it puts Tomizone in the hands of a global community that is crying out for hotspots.“It means customers will notice a new feature in some of the D-Link Routers which allows them to secure their broadband connection and share it to make money,” he says.Access to the Tomizone platform is charged at a locally-based fee, for example US$3 a day, AU$4 a day and NZ$4.50 a day or $22.50 a week. Hosts – known as affiliates - can sell vouchers or pre-paid passes, and for every dollar spent Tomizone pays 50% back to the affiliate. In another major score Tomizone has signed Orcon as its first ISP affiliate. Orcon is now selling the selected D-Link routers to new and existing customers. Seeby Woodhouse, Orcon CEO, says Tomizone approached his company with a simple solution that he says will be big over time.“Our customers increasingly want to be wirelessly connected to their broadband connection and the Tomizone system is a nice way to share it and secure it at the same time,” he says. Up until now, says Simms, the growth of new hotspots has been the domain of the big telcos.“Tomizone has changed that model. By giving away its free Wi-Fi hotspot software it’s allowing anyone with a bit of time, inclination and a selected D-Link wireless router to set up a secure hotspot from any broadband connection and start making money.”Simms points out that D-Link distributors, resellers and retailers now have a product that makes Wi-Fi more useful and has the potential to make them money.Maurice Famularo, D-Link ANZ marketing director, describes Tomizone’s Wi-Fi Hotspot service as innovative.“D-Link is delighted that its wireless routers have been selected to provide a robust, secure and broadly available technology platform for Tomizone. We look forward to seeing D-Link customers take up the offer to make broadband internet access available to mobile technology users everywhere,” he says.