Free wi-fi in Britain made a big step in the right direction this week: Hoping to make this aspiration a reality, UK telecom BT has partnered with global wireless sharing service Fon.

BT's 3 million broadband users now have the option to share a small bit of their own home wi-fi service by opening a separate, secure channel, according to BBC News.

In exchange for participating, BT subscribers have free access to Fon and BT Openzone hotspots. There are currently 190,000 Fon hotspots around the world.

Fon, based in Spain, is the self-proclaimed "world's largest wi-fi community."

BT Group's Managing Director Gavin Patterson said the plan was to create "the people's network of wi-fi, that could one day cover every street in Britain."