Google details Mountain View free wireless internet

Google appears to be in the midst of launching a citywide wireless internet (WiFi) service in the hometown of its headquarters -- Mountain View, California. In addition to the Google-Earthlink WiFi announcement for the San Francisco area, Google looks to have some of its sights on wireless internet access, although it has said that Google does not want to get into the service provider business -- but wants to establish partnerships.

An interesting side to this story is this: Google says it does not plan to use ads to pay for this new WiFi service in Mountain view, nor release any "secret plan" to monetize the service. Hmm -- just what is going to pay for this large municipal WiFi network, then? Google says that it wants the network to be free in order to get the most people using it. Grand ambitions -- the more people use the network, the more they'll use Google services (I would think), and the more AdSense and AdWords ads will be clicked upon. That's my guess, but it appears to be Google's strategy here.

Is this the right strategy for Google to have -- to give away free wireless internet just to get more people using Google's services (still unclear) more frequently? If there's no direct monetary revenue stream being thought of in this process, this sounds like a pretty large risk if you ask me. But then again, Google's awash in cash -- for the time being.