For hordes of freelancers, telecommuters and other professionals, Starbucks truly is our “third place” (not home, not work, but a third place to work or hang). I’ve hosted plenty of meetings–both social and professional–at my local Starbucks. The music and atmosphere was nearly perfect, nearly.
Something was always missing. That something was free Internet access. It always struck me as incredibly cheap and annoying that the folks at Starbucks, so concerned with my experience and enjoyment, could not imagine that I might enjoy the experience of invest of free Net access. I mean, come on! I was investing my disposable income in premium coffee, why not share their WiFi with me?
Well, someone must have whispered in Howard Schultz’s ear (likely something to do with falling same-store sales). Yesterday, Starbucks Corp. and AT&T Inc. announced they will start offering a mix of free and paid wireless Internet service in most U.S. Starbucks, beginning this spring.
Starbucks said it will give customers who use a Starbucks card two hours of free wireless access per day. Additional hours will cost $3.99 for a two-hour session. Monthly memberships will cost $19.99 and include access to any of AT&T’s 70,000 hot spots worldwide. Most exciting about this move is that, if you are an AT&T broadband Internet customer, you will automatically have unlimited free Wi-Fi access at Starbucks.
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