Is Internet access an essential utility or, as the communications industry contends, just another telecommunications service? That's the question a growing number of municipalities are facing as they consider deploying public wireless networks. The jury is still out on whether muni-WiFi is really necessary. But at least a dozen communities, from tiny towns to Philadelphia, already offer municipal WiFi or plan to soon. Their experiences indicate what the technology's costs and benefits are likely to be for other towns and cities. Article