Google has offered to blanket the city of San Francisco with Wi-Fi, according to News.com. The proposed broadband service would be freely available throughout the city and would pay for itself through advertising. Could this be the beginning of a paradigm shift in the Internet access business, changing broadband delivery from a subscription-based model to a broadcast advertising model akin to television? Despite recent ISP lobbying efforts in Washington to restrict municipalities from providing free broadband access, a handful of cities and community organizations have already constructed Wi-Fi zones that offer residents, traveling professionals, and tourists free Wi-Fi connections to the Internet. What better way is there to bridge the digital divide than to make broadband freely available?

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