It Seems Like A Good Idea, But...: Municipal vs. Business Supplied WiFi

There is a very strong socialist bent in some of my ideas from time to time; not that I'm a socialist or anything. One idea that has always appealed to me is the idea of free or cheap Internet access for lower income people. Before the Internet boom in the mid-1990's, that very idea was met with boos and hisses from the online providers at the time. Keep in mind that at that time, most services sold time by the hour; it wasn't unusual for me to get AOL bills of $70USD or more. The market drove the prices down, and eventually the idea that municipalities provide service seemed passé, especially when you have ISPs such as United Online with monthly fees of $10.
Now, we've entered the latest phase of digitally connecting the world, wireless or WiFi. And, not surprisingly, the whole municipal versus business-supplied service has reared its head again. But this time, it's gotten nasty. For instance, this news item from Yahoo News, "Cities Face Backlash As They Plan Municipal Wireless Services" gives you the essential lowdown on this fight.
This is not the first time that this issue has come to my attention, but whenever I read news like this, the first thing that crosses my mind is "here we go again"; big business stands to lose money in this, and is taking a legal approach to stop the competition. The flip side is, of course, how will these cities finance these projects? The reality is that it costs less to set up wireless networks than to lay DSL cable; the money in the wireless business is almost entirely concentrated in the service end, just as it was in the early days of digital communication when you used a modem and Ma Bell's pre-existing lines for connecting. That the providers would feel threatened is only natural, since they are essentially selling air. There is money to be made in this, and they know it.
There is room for both public and privately supplied WiFi. This wrangling smacks of dirty deals in backrooms. If a city decides to offer this service to their citizens, they should put it to a moratorium, and if the voices rise up and say they're for it, that should be the end of it.