Starbucks expands relationship with AT&T Wi-Fi service
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Feb 11, 2008 at 1:24pm
Starbucks has announced a new communications agreement with AT&T. With this announcement, AT&T, which has provided Starbucks with network connectivity for point of sale and other store operating systems for more than 10 years, will offer consumer WiFi service in more than 7,000 Starbucks locations in the U.S. beginning in spring of 2008.
“Now more than ever, Starbucks is focused on the in-store experience for our customers,” Chris Bruzzo, chief technology officer, Starbucks, says in a press anouncement. “As we continue to build our technology offerings in ways that both enhance and expand the Starbucks Experience for our customers, we made a strategic decision to expand our existing relationship with our longtime technology partner AT&T to include consumer Wi-Fi.”
In recognition of the many T-Mobile customers who enjoy visiting Starbucks, the Company is also announcing that T-Mobile HotSpot customers will be able to continue to access Wi-Fi services at no additional cost, through an agreement between AT&T and T-Mobile.
Customer Wi-Fi services from AT&T will be rolled-out to Starbucks locations in the U.S. on a market by market basis beginning in the spring of 2008. Starbucks will work with AT&T to create a “range of compelling Wi-Fi pricing structures for Starbucks and AT&T customers,” Bruzzo says.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
