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I don't think you are looking at the big picture on all this.
Things like this cost $$$ for research and development and more $$$ to bring them to market. Market barriers exist because of the limits impose by companies trying to compete to stay in business.
In the late 90's investors were throwing dough at everything and we were flooded with innovations but then the dot com bust happened and a lot of people were left high and dry with worthless investments. Now those same investors are a little bit wary to invest in anything that is not a sure deal.
It sounds cheap to provide Internet for $20-30 but what about the cost of laying infrastructure, supporting the network, and upgrading. Core routers and switches are not cheap and often can run over hundreds of thousands of dollars. It takes a lot of subscribers and money to recoup these costs and then they have to budget upgrades to keep up-to-date equipment.
Municipal WiFi will most likely not be free or will be added as a tax. You and I might be ok with it but there are taxpayers who will throw a fit over it and block it at every level. But we live in a democracy and have to listen to their differences in opinion.
Anyways that is my 2¢ FWIW
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