Google to Give Free Wi-Fi?

Slashdot made mention this week of an article that appeared a few days ago in Business 2.0 that speculated on whether Google might be intending to provide free Wi-Fi access across the United States. While you might be tempted to say "hey, that's great, but it doesn't do much to drive sales for my site," take time to think that over.

Free Wi-Fi...across the United States. As a Wi-Fi user myself, I'm always pumped to find a new space offering service. Sure, it's great that I can head out to my backyard and work while my daughter and dog play, but the ability to branch out to public spaces while staying online is what I'm really after. While I rarely do client work these days, I do still spend a lot of time consulting with folks about their marketing campaigns, or helping match them up with firms that can take care of their needs. That means that when I meet with them, I likely need to have Internet access. For now, that means limiting our meetings to places like Panera Bread, or the public commons at the local mall, since it offers free Wi-Fi. Otherwise, I need to shell out the $80 a month or so that it takes to get a wireless card from one of the cell carriers.

A nationwide network of free Wi-Fi hot spots would do the small business market a world of good. We'd no longer be tied to our desks or offices, or forced to shell out big bucks to pay for Wi-Fi access at spots like Starbucks. That means that you could take your laptop along and work while your kid is at baseball practice, or better yet, that you can get your Christmas shopping done while sitting in the car waiting for your son to finish his guitar lesson.

That second one is the key... Sure, it's great to be able to work from anywhere, but chances are good that small business owners need LESS reasons to work continuously, not more. That said, the idea that your customer would have more time to shop and purchase from you is a plus. More people spending more time online means more potential customers for you.

Now all of this sounds great as speculation, but what are the chances that Google would really build such a system? After all, you're talking about a lot of issues... infrastructure, management and even possible legal issues on the ever-buzzworthy monopoly front. According to the Business 2.0 article, Google has already launched a free Wi-Fi hot spot in San Francisco and is in talks to launch more. Whether or not "more" means "we-want-to-offer-wi-fi-in-every-corner-of-the-country" or not remains to be seen.