> In February 2007, a petition for rulemaking was filed with the FCC by Skype, requesting the FCC to apply the Carterfone regulations to the wireless industry—which would mean that OEMs, portals and others will be able to offer wireless devices and services without the cellular operators needing to approve the handsets. However, on April 1, 2008, FCC chairman Kevin Martin indicated that he would oppose Skype's request.
> On April 17, 2015 this petition for rulemaking was dismissed without prejudice by the FCC at the request of Skype's current owner, Microsoft Corporation.
The idea was that you could bring along the same handset you used at home, and calls would follow you, at no extra price. They built microcell antennas on top of existing telephone booths, but only in Milan and Rome (as a start).
It had many disadvantages compared to GSM, because coverage was limited to areas with those microcells available, and also it would not work if you were moving at more than 40 km/h. GSM was rolled out in the same period, but it was way better, and it totally won. So FIDO was shut down in 2000, never having actually been a success.
> On April 17, 2015 this petition for rulemaking was dismissed without prejudice by the FCC at the request of Skype's current owner, Microsoft Corporation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carterfone