rohitj - 5:06 pm on Jun 22, 2006 (gmt 0)

There are plenty of explainations. With such a large market share on search, getting people online will benefit them immensely and ultimately lead people to use their other services which do have ads. Over all its in their interest to put as many heads online as possible.

Not to mention this adds tons of branding and will show the world their capability to provide reliable free wi-fi. If this test-run works, it'll open up contracts in hundreds of cities and many other countries--where they may begin to serve ads eventually. This is just a small beta and the big execs don't care about the measly 10 or 20 million that comes from monetizing ads from one city, they care about making sure it works and establishing a strong image for the politicians and others who need convincing before getting on board.