Who pays for wireless cities?

From Technology Review:

"These days, Wi-Fi is shorthand for wireless mesh networking technology. Instead of connecting to the Internet through a cable or telephone line, users are free to roam while their PDAs and laptops ferry data packets through radio waves and across a series of fixed access points. The average range is about 50 meters. Airports, shopping malls, coffee houses, and even campgrounds are actively courting the digital crowd by offering Wi-Fi service.

The wrinkle in the public-service spin on Wi-Fi is who will bear the cost for the service. The answer splits proponents into two camps, and both are problematic. On one side are those who see wireless broadband as a public amenity—a basic service that cities and towns should provide free to residents as they do, say, trash pickup. Missing from this scenario is consensus on how municipalities, perennially short on funds, will pay the Wi-Fi tab. Among the models being considered are a payout from the general allocation fund, or, for larger municipalities, the sale of bonds. Philadelphia officials are considering the imposition of new tourist fees to defray the city's Wi-Fi costs.

In the other camp are those who eye Wi-Fi as a potential revenue generator. Proponents of this model say cities and towns could negotiate affordable residential Wi-Fi rates as part of the bundle of wireless broadband services they purchase for local government departments, such as fire, police, and schools. A more hands-off approach, already being tried in some places, is to contract out the installation and management of local Wi-Fi in exchange for franchise fees paid by the contractor.