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The Starbucks/AT&T Deal To Change Perception of Public Wi-Fi?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the more-for-free-less-for-pay dept.

ericatcw writes "According to ComputerWorld, with two hours of free Wi-Fi soon to arrive at Starbucks consumers should expect more hotspots to go free as well as more attractive bundles from the likes of AT&T, Verizon and providers. While T-Mobile is hurting, indie coffeehouses and chains such as Caribou Coffee, Tully's and others that already offered free Wi-Fi, insist they are not, saying their ambiance and superior brew will help them retain customers."

6 of 170 comments (clear)

  1. What? Americans PAY? by Shuntros · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wifi in European Starbucks has been free for a long time now. Buy a coffee, get a free wifi scratchcard. When credit runs out, go back to counter and get another one.....

  2. Panera Has Had Free WiFi For Years by cbowland · · Score: 5, Informative

    Panera Bread has had free wifi for years. You can use this page to find one near you. They typically don't hassle you even if you are camped out and not buying much.

    --

    Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.
    Teach him to eat and he will fish forever.

  3. Re:Information wants to be free... by isotactic · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's only 2 Free hours - you have to buy a card for $15, and then the first 2 hours are "free", after that you start paying again.

  4. Dunn Bros is #1 in Minneapolis by Rick+Richardson · · Score: 3, Informative


    Fellow Minneapolis chain Dunn Brothers offers free Wi-Fi with *no strings attached* at its 90 locations.

    Caribou is 2nd (one hour free).

  5. Re:Information wants to be free... by jac89 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Its actually 2 free hours a day, which for a one off fee of 15 dollars is really not too bad.

  6. Re:T-Mobile Hotspot@Home service? by all5n · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes. One of the things that T-Mobile got as a concession for Starbucks breaking the contract early was protection for the T-Mobile UMA (HotSpot@Home) service to remain accessible to T-Mobile customers. T-Mobile wifi customers will still be able to access the wifi at starbucks for some period of years at no additional cost. Since AT&T provides many of the T1 connections to the starbucks locations, they can offer SBUX a sweeter deal than T-Mobile could. Going to the 2 hour pass would have been the offering regardless of the wi-fi provider. Plus they want to do some gimmicky stuff related to ordering coffee from your iphone. So they are betting their current wi-fi revenue stream is less than the coffee sales that the new offering will provide.