First McDonald's, now Starbucks ...

Starbucks To Serve Free Wi-Fi, Premium Content

Posted June 14th, 2010 at 2:25 pm by Gavin O'Malley

Praise the Lord, and pass the Sweet’N Low! Starbucks says it will begin offering free Wi-Fi nationwide beginning July 1. No registration or account will be required to access the service, nor will it be time limited. As Mashable notes, Starbucks is not the first major food chain to roll out free Wi-Fi, as McDonald’s made the move last December. Still, the coffee seller’s huge national footprint will no doubt help to accelerate the adoption of mobile devices. Like McDonald’s, Starbucks is relying on AT&T support what will surely be an explosion in usership. Whether AT&T, while is often criticized for the quality of its wireless data network, will be able to support the increased load remains to be seen. Starbucks also plans to roll out a new Starbucks Digital Network in partnership with Yahoo later this fall. The network, which will only be accessible in “U.S. company-operated stores,” according to Mashable, will offers customers free and unrestricted access to paid sites and services like WSJ.com.

From MediaPost

FINALLY I have a reason to hang out at the Westport Starbucks and drink that great hot chocolate.