Starbucks is offering in-store free Wi-Fi in cooperation with AT&T starting on Thursday. The new one-click access service means customers won’t have to buy drinks to earn free Wi-Fi time, and they’ll have free access to some paid Web sites such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times as part of the company’s new Starbucks Digital Network.
Starbucks Digital Networks will launch some time in the Fall of 2010, and is being put together by a new division within the coffee company called Digital Ventures.
The free Wi-Fi service will be available in all U.S. Starbucks stores on July 1st. The company has not announced similar plans for outside the U.S. for either service.