Will cellular merge with Wi-Fi? Seems likely to me. The 1,400 public hot spot locations are expected to grow to about 42,000 by 2006. This growth presents the opportunity to create a national wireless network that could provide both voice and Internet connectivity using WiFi standards and a plethora of new WiFi technology for routing, meshing, hopping, range extending, and other functions. The telephone network and the cellular systems as we know them may be subsumed by the many initiatives that are underway.