http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/djchuang/~3/233822077/
Starbucks customers will get 2 hours of free Wi-fi daily beginning this Spring. All’s you need is a Starbucks card! Finally, a perk for those who have a Starbucks card, like me. And for T-mobile hotspot subscribers, a roaming arrangement will be made with AT&T so that subscription will still work at Starbucks.
From the official announcement at Starbucks.com:
In addition to the free Wi-Fi access for qualifying AT&T customers and any Starbucks Card holder, customers will be able to purchase tiered access to the AT&T Wi-Fi network at Starbucks at attractive price points. For a two-hour period, customers will pay just $3.99 per session. Monthly membership will also be available for $19.99 per month, and will include access to any of AT&T’s 70,000 hot spots in 89 countries around the world.
NYT Bits blog Cheaper Wi-Fi Access at Starbucks and Beyond comments on this switch:
… as many as 60 hours of access for the price of one $2 cup of coffee. The offer comes as Starbucks switches the company providing it with wireless service to AT&T from T-Mobile. Most of AT&T’s broadband data customers will also have unlmited free access to Wi-Fi at 7,000 Starbucks. They have already been able to use AT&T’s other 10,000 hotspots free.
And NYT carries the AP article, AT&T Joins Starbucks to Provide Store Wi-Fi. Wired’s title is more provocative: Starbucks Ditches T-Mobile and Brings in AT&T as Exclusive Wi-Fi Provider. Plus, AT&T’s version of the announcement.
