Starbucks has ended its six-year partnership with T-Mobile HotSpot and entered into a 10-year relationship with AT&T to provide free Wi-Fi access to anyone. As expected, the financial terms were not disclosed to the public.
Though free Wi-Fi is already available in smaller coffee shops, this major change could affect the Wi-Fi hotspot industry due to Starbucks’ magnitude. In the U.S. alone, this coffee shop has more than 17 million customers and 7,000 stores nationwide. Initial launch is expected this coming spring while nationwide implementation will be completed within the year.
What prompted Starbucks to adopt a free system is the growing number of customers with handheld devices like iPhone, Wi-Fi radios and laptops. Hopefully this idea will help improve its in-store business in the form of music and video downloads through its partnership with iTunes. More importantly, it hopes to enhance overall customer experience.
Originally posted on February 12, 2008 @ 11:10 am