Starbucks to Offer Free Wi-Fi Via AT&T
Starbucks, the chain that showed the world there is more to coffee than drip or perk (then proceeded to abuse our trust by dumping an overrated coffee hut on every corner), just announced that it will be switching its for-pay Wi-Fi hotspot service from T-Mobile to AT&T, and that it will offer up to two hours of free Wi-Fi a day. The switch will take place in 7,000 U.S. Starbucks locations by this Spring.
So are T-Mobile hotspot customers out of luck? Not at all. AT&T will let current T-Mobile subscribers continue to use the hotspots free of charge.
For those who aren't T-Mobile customers, though, the deal is even sweeter. As usual, existing AT&T broadband customers will get free access at the new AT&T-powered Starbucks access points, but even better is the deal that Starbucks card (basically a prepaid coffee card) holders get -- two hours of free Wi-Fi a day. This means all you have to do to get the free Wi-Fi is pre-pay for your coffee in the form of a Starbucks card and then use your card to complete the transaction.
Even if you don't fall into one of the above three categories, you'll save with the AT&T partnership. AT&T will be charging only $4 for two hours of Wi-Fi connectivity, which compares quite favorably with the $6 an hour T-Mobile charges. Let's just hope they make it easy to add extra days to all-day pay-as-you-go accounts, something that the T-Mobile HotSpot service has made really difficult.
All-in-all, it's a good day for consumers and Starbucks customers.
From GeekSugar
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