Vending machines as WiFi infrastructure

This isn't the first time we've heard the idea of using vending machines as WiFi access points, but it seems like a consortium of Japanese companies will be the first to take the plunge. Hawking (great name, folks) plans to start with metropolitan areas of Nagoya and have 1,000 WiFi'd drink machines available nationwide by the end of the year; access via them will be free. Given that there are 2.6 million drink machines in Japan (that's the subcategory, mind, not vending machines in total), you could go an awful long way towards blanket WiFi coverage if you hooked them all up,
though we have to admit that the point of the whole exercise rather escapes us.