SEATTLE — Starbucks and AT&T will start offering a mix of free and paid wireless Internet service in most of the international coffee retailer’s U.S. shops beginning this spring.
The move announced Monday ends Starbucks’ six-year partnership with T-Mobile, which did not include free Wi-Fi and charged higher fees than AT&T will.
Starbucks said it will give customers who use a Starbucks card two hours of free wireless access per day. More time than that will cost $3.99 for a two-hour session. Monthly memberships will cost $19.99 and include access to any of AT&T’s 70,000 hot spots worldwide.
Nearly all of AT&T’s broadband Internet customers, about 12 million, will automatically have unlimited free Wi-Fi access at Starbucks, the companies said. The deal boosts the number of AT&T hot spots in the U.S. to 17,000 — the most in the nation.
Starbucks will begin rolling the plan out this spring and aims to have it available in its more than 7,000 company-operated domestic stores by the end of the year.
