The cities already manage the sewers, roads, and (in most cities) the electricity grid. What if the wireless internet grid is treated as similar piece of essential infrastructure? The question is whether wireless is essential infrastructure or not. There's a lot of research being done on whether internet access can help bring people out of poverty, and the result of that research will be an interesting point in this debate. If it does help bring people out of poverty, then you could argue it's just as important to keep in public hands as the sewers, roads, police services, etc. Whether municipalities own and run the wifi is interesting in other issues too, such as network neutrality. On another note, you could say that like Boston, Toronto (and not the private sector) will control its wifi network, since Toronto Hydro is owned by the City of Toronto.