Not to worry, T-Mobile customers will be able to access wi-fi at Starbucks at no additional cost.
This makes AT&T the 800 lb. gorilla of wi-fi, as they already have McDonalds. Happily, they will be making wi-fi both easier and cheaper.
Beginning this spring, Starbucks Card holders can get two hours of free Wi-Fi service per day, while more than 12 million qualifying AT&T broadband and AT&T U-verse Internet customers will have unlimited free access to the Wi-Fi service.
Customers will be able to purchase tiered WiFi access. 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.
We are finally seeing lower prices and greater availability come to wi-fi even if it is a bit scary how omnipresent AT&T has become. Our cable modem and cell phone are already AT&T, our wi-fi may become that too (especially if we qualify for the free service!)
The competition offers wi-fi free of charge. Panera Bread, as well as a multitude of local coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and hotel/motels entice customers with free internet access.
It works. I rarely patronize Starbucks because the competition gives me what I want in a coffee shop: a relaxed atmosphere and free browsing. Pay for internet? Not when the guy across the street offers it for free! (Ironically, that’s exactly what happens sometimes: in Westchester, CA, the two options are so close that on a good day you can get Panera’s wi-fi in Starbucks and vice versa.)
Free is always better! But 70,000 hotspots worldwide for $20 a month ain’t bad.