Starbucks to Offer Free Wi-Fi Service
Many coffee shops try to discourage people from buying a cup of coffee and then lingering for hours to use the free wireless Internet access. Starbucks, meanwhile, is encouraging them to stay as long as they want. Starbucks said on Monday that as of July 1, its stores in the United States would offer free Wi-Fi, via AT&T, that anyone can reach with a single click.
Customers who have bought and registered a Starbucks card have been able to access the Web for two hours, after a somewhat complicated log-in process. Cardholders who wanted to use the Web for more than two hours and customers without cards who wanted to use it at all paid $3.99 for a two-hour session. Starbucks is making the change just as many coffeehouses are experimenting with ways to cut off squatters who browse and do not spend. Some post signs asking people to continue buying food and drinks if they stay, while the more aggressive ones cover their power outlets with tape so people cannot charge their laptops.
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