A Stitch in Haste

As widely suspected, Google has submitted a bid to provide no-fee wi-fi Internet access in San Francisco:

Offering free WiFi service could pay off for Google if the greater access gives the company more opportunities to field search requests and ultimately serve up more advertising -- the vehicle that provides virtually all of its profits.

Building its own wireless Internet network connection also would help Google save money by reducing the fees that it pays to the telecommunications middlemen that provide a bridge between the company's data centers and Internet service providers whenever Web surfers make a search request.

The precise business model of Google's wi-fi experiment (i.e., revenue-enhancing or cost-cutting) is irrelevant. What is relevant is that no-fee wi-fi is not the same as "free" wi-fi -- free wi-fi does not exist. Somebody, somewhere pays for it.

Where wi-fi is provided, "free," by municipal governments, the cost is borne by taxpayers, regardless of whether they use the service or not. But where wi-fi is provided, "free," by private companies such as Google, the cost is borne by those who do use it, either directly via subscription fees or indirectly via advertising.

Regardless, Google has now proved -- definitively, conclusively and irrefutably -- that wi-fi is not a public good. Local governments therefore have no justification providing it at taxpayer expense.