TechCrunch shows a survey screen that asks the subject what they'd think about Yahoo! Messenger On-the-Road: The service would potentially be offered at over 30,000 hotspot worldwide for $7.95 per month flat rate or $2.95 for two hours of Yahoo! Messenger usage. The 30K hotspots and $7.95/month rate matches Boingo's statistics and its offer for VoIP with Skype, so perhaps Boingo would be the platform behind this.
It's an odd trend to see specific services being offered, such as the Nintendo DS Wi-Fi connection (which Nintendo offers at no cost, subsidizing it for its buyers), rather than generic Wi-Fi for all applications. It's about the stupid network, isn't it? But this isn't so much about smartening up a network as striating it for the purposes of providing a better rate for a specific activity, like VoIP.
Perhaps not this offer specifically, but in many ways, this kind of offering makes sense. Nintendo DS doesn't have a browser making it impossible for DS users to go through the login process at most hotspots. Because FatPort's able to offer Nintendo a bypass for DS customers - we're able to drive more customers to the coffeeshops and restaurants we service - which, at the end of the day, is the main reason many of these places choose to offer FatPort to begin with.
The lack of a browser is same problem faced by many VoIP handsets, for example. And in many of the smaller devices, even if it includes a browser, it's too confined to use easily. I suspect you'll start seeing more and more device manufacturers working out arrangements with the hotspot providers in the coming months.