Starbucks Gives Away Free, Unlimited Wi-Fi

Starbucks, the well-known coffee company with thousands of stores around the globe, has announced that it will turn on free Wi-Fi for the stores' customers in US and Canada starting with July 1. Usual customers will be able to use their Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, tablets and mobile phones and benefit from unlimited Internet access to surf the Web, connect to social networks, search for jobs or work at their neighborhood Starbucks.

The announcement 'upgrades' the recent offer, which limited free access to Wi-Fi to only two hours. Also, the old offering was restricted to members of the My Starbucks Rewards program. The new unlimited Wi-Fi offering features a one-click entry point, so users won't be required to register with a username or password.

"Our customers were asking for a simplified Wi-Fi offering, and free Wi-Fi has been a top request on MyStarbucksIdea.com. We’re excited to turn this feedback into action and believe our customers will be delighted with the enhanced experience they’ll find in Starbucks stores," said Howard Schultz, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Starbucks.

Sturbucks works with AT&T as the provider for Wi-Fi services in the US and Bell for Canada. The company has stated that almost 6,800 Starbucks locations in the US and around 750 in Canada will now have free Wi-Fi.

“Bringing one click, free Wi-Fi to Starbucks opens up new opportunities for our customers and gives us the backdrop to continue to bring innovation to their in-store experience. We’re finding new ways to bridge the third place coffeehouse environment with the digital space, and look forward to sharing that with our customers,” said Stephen Gillett, Starbucks executive vice president, chief information officer and general manager of Digital Ventures.