Back in July, shortly after calling Cablevision's free Wi-Fi a "marketing stunt," Verizon began offering select broadband customers free Wi-Fi. As noted at the time, the service wasn't extended to Verizon Wireless users or base package DSL users, required a third party application that only works on Windows, and wasn't usable on home PCs (netbook/laptops only). In a bit of good news, Verizon today announced that they're at least now extending the offer to mobile broadband (note: wireless data, not wireless phone) customers eager to browse Wi-Fi via a laptop/netbook. Says Verizon:While extending free Wi-Fi to 3G card customers is certainly welcome, Verizon still hasn't fixed many of the restrictions that make this offer unappealing to customers. Mac and Linux users still can't use the application, and Verizon's still restricting regular wireless -- and home PC users -- from taking advantage of the service. Given they'd normally be using the Verizon FiOS or Verizon DSL they're required to have to get the service, that doesn't make sense -- and free Wi-Fi at home might at least make a nice backup option for outages.

Meanwhile, while Verizon professes concerns about your bill, you'll recall that Verizon Wireless recently stopped offering smartphones to users who don't also sign up for data plans. Some users preferred simply using a smartphone over Wi-Fi to avoid monthly charges, so Verizon put an end to that. Verizon giveth, Verizon taketh away. You'll also note that this extension of the Wi-Fi offer is only going out to users who have Verizon EVDO laptop cards already, and probably won't even use Wi-Fi much. As such, this still feels like a half-hearted "me too" offer from a carrier that's been mocking other, better Wi-Fi efforts.