Google has expressed interest in the past in provided free services with minimal advertisement, and has financially supported some companies that offer free wireless access in certain places. I will say now though that the following idea is merely speculation. Although the heart of this idea may be advertising, it is advertising that drives search giant Google to begin with. It's no surprise that this potential venture could be designed not only to provide potential free wireless Internet coast to coast in the U.S., but that it could be used to directly target users with ads based upon locale. Of course, that isn't what makes this interesting. What makes this interesting is that Google is a company that could, perhaps, actually pull this off - An entire country provided with free WiFi.
Although this is mere speculation at this point, the article does detail that Google has the potential to do this and is already expressing an interest in free wireless providers. With so many computers, especially laptops, coming with wireless built in, it would be a truly amazing feat.