A lot of highly-caffeinated people were made very happy yesterday, when Starbucks announced it would be partnering with AT&T to provide free WiFi. About 7,000 locations nationwide will carry the new service. Now we can finally take our laptops into Starbucks without feeling like we're stepping through a time portal to the 90's. There's a slight catch to the free WiFi deal: you get two hours free, but only if you buy coffee with a Starbucks card. This doesn't sound like a total scam to us, though: just put your coffee money on a gift card instead of handing it over directly. After the first two hours, you can get additional hours at a rate of $3.99 for two, and the unlimited monthly plan is $20. If you're already an AT&T customer, you can log in and use the new Starbucks hotspots for free.
T-Mobile, the current wireless provider for Starbucks, looks like the big loser in this deal. If you already bought a T-Mobile plan, though, you're not out in the cold: AT&T is allowing existing customers to use their accounts on the new hotspots. Welcome to the 21st century, Starbucks!
[Via Switched]
