Wi-Fi in Hotels: A sustainable model?

In india, the incumbent telcos have more or less killed the Wi-Fi in 5-star Hotel markets by putting in the network for free and then sharing revenue with the Hotel. This apparently is a win-win situation for the Hotel since there is no up-front investment and there is also a steady revenue.
The flip side is that in their greed to earn revenue, the hotels end up charging astronomical sums for access. The typical rates are about INR 900 ($ 20) per day!
The operator on his part tries to cut costs by using sub-standard equipment and inferior design leading to lack of proper connectivity in the hotel.
This has led to a lot of people (domestic business travellers) using their GPRS cards for Internet access.