I like your line of thinking. But, I have a feeling that you're one of the few people who both know what they want, and how to get it for themselves.

I believe that part of the definition of 4G is a TCP/IP based network. You can already run whatever service you choose on the current dial-up networks, except for *maybe* bit-torrent. I believe that the $60 is in conjunction with a cell service, but you can get it without a cell service for a different rate, and neither is a long term contract, it's a month-to-month deal. I didn't say that the VoIP was crappy, but the couple of times that I tested it, the quality wasn't as good as a WiFi connection, but it was usable. As far as the text messages, I'm not sure, but if you don't think that it's worth it, that's when you use the net connection, and IM for free over that. It's not like they're forcing you to use it. And, as for 4G costing a premium, I don't really see that happening, they didn't do it with 3G, so why would they with 4G?

Also, advertisements are different from statements that are picked up by the news media, and circulated around the blogs. The blogs announced Sprints plans to rollout WiMax a couple of years ago, and have followed that story very closely, including Sprint ousting it's CEO, who was a big WiMax supporter, as opposed to the board, who didn't want to roll out a new technology, and instead focus on their current network. But, apparently they realized that it was important to move forward with their WiMax rollout, so it's back on the table.

I guess that the biggest issue is that for you, WiFi seems to be working pretty well, so why would you pay for an inferior mobile connection? I wouldn't if I could rely on having WiFi when I needed internet access, but I can't. The mobile service may be a bit slower than I'd like, but I'm willing to pay for it because there have been very few times where it hasn't worked (on the train in between towns in New Hampshire and Maine). I don't necessarily like the current situation, but it's the best available to me right now.

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4G
Verizon LTE rollout
AT&T LTE rollout