An SVP from Verizon commented in a Q&A in the Boston Globe (no link, it's behind a paid subscription system like NYTimes.com) that he didn't believe there was a standalone market for Wi-Fi access:
Q. Any chance you would offer WiFi as a stand-alone service unconnected to Verizon Online DSL or dial-up Net service?
A. We don't view WiFi as a service per se. It is an access technology. It is something our customers want [in order] to be untethered from the network. We have yet to see a business model where WiFi could operate as a stand-alone business.
Lots of other good tidbits in here about their Pay-Phone-based Wi-Fi network deployment, but this notable comment underscores the fact that Wi-Fi will be like the air we breath, and thus part of our commodity communications/utility bills. Incidentally, this is exactly the model that more advanced markets (Japan) are using, where broadband+VOIP+WiFi are now common and affordable.
9:49:11 AM 
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