Starbucks planning free AT&T WiFi this spring

by Jay Hathaway Feb 13th 2008

A lot of highly-caffeinated people were made very happy yesterday, when Starbucks announced it would be partnering with AT&T to provide free WiFi. About 7,000 locations nationwide will carry the new service. Now we can finally take our laptops into Starbucks without feeling like we're stepping through a time portal to the 90's.

There's a slight catch to the free WiFi deal: you get two hours free, but only if you buy coffee with a Starbucks card. This doesn't sound like a total scam to us, though: just put your coffee money on a gift card instead of handing it over directly. After the first two hours, you can get additional hours at a rate of $3.99 for two, and the unlimited monthly plan is $20. If you're already an AT&T customer, you can log in and use the new Starbucks hotspots for free.

T-Mobile, the current wireless provider for Starbucks, looks like the big loser in this deal. If you already bought a T-Mobile plan, though, you're not out in the cold: AT&T is allowing existing customers to use their accounts on the new hotspots. Welcome to the 21st century, Starbucks!

[Via Switched]

Tags: starbucks, wi-fi, wifi

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

michael said 1:37PM on 2-13-2008

What kind of AT&T subscriber do you need to be? I have AT&T mobile and would LOVE to have free wifi @ starbucks.

Jay Hathaway said 4:09PM on 2-13-2008

AT&T broadband customers get free access to the hotspots, but it looks like mobile customers might have to wait. A press release from Starbucks says "AT&T will soon extend the benefits of Wi-Fi at Starbucks to its wireless customers." How soon is soon? We don't know yet, but we'll ask AT&T and get back to you!

Jay Hathaway said 10:16AM on 2-14-2008

We got a clarification from AT&T this morning: "Its AT&T customers with broadband service 1.5 and higher, so if you have a Wi-Fi enabled phone and subscribe to our qualifying broadband service you would be eligible for the free access."

Phil said 2:03PM on 2-13-2008

I wonder if instead of paying $3.99 for another 2 hours you could just get another coffee...

mavkato said 2:09PM on 2-13-2008

or go to a different coffee joint that has free wi-fi (and probably better coffee)

Tom Enders said 10:06PM on 2-13-2008

The local Seattle's Best around here has free WiFi. So does the mall that the Starbucks is in, and the Ground Round across the hall from the Starbucks. So why on earth would I pay to access AT&T broadband from Starbucks.

Wake up Starbucks. Get a cable or dsl connection and plug it into a netgrear wireless router.

Jeff said 12:29PM on 2-16-2008

It's pretty fair I think. They are working to prevent people from just coming in, not ordering anything but taking up space all day while they use the wi-fi that they pay for. Yes, there are coffeeshops that offer it free, and that's great. But I know of one in the twin cities area - caribou coffee that does similar: One free hour for a purchase. Hour up? Buy another coffee or cookie or water or whatever...

I did suggest, and haven't heard from them - that you "bank" your purchases. Your purchase adds time to a loyal customer card or something... how many times does someone go to a coffeeshop and NOT use wi-fi?

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