Today at 12:58 PM I received the following text message from AT&T:
AT&T Free Msg: Your Apple iPhone now has free AT&T Wi-Fi access at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including Starbucks. For info visit www.att.com/attwifi
According to the AT&T website the free Wi-Fi is also available at:
Thousands of AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot locations nationwide
- Airports
- Hotels
- Universities
- Convention Centers
- Sports Centers
- Starbucks locations
- Restaurants
- Bookstores
- Supermarkets
This is definitely a nice feature but the new iPhones are so fast that it’s often more of a pain to switch to Wi-Fi than to just keep it at 3G or even EDGE. I would imagine the strategy for AT&T’s free Wi-Fi is to lower the data costs that iPhone users generate. Allowing iPhone users to freely access AT&T Wi-Fi networks is likely cheaper than the massive data costs that iPhones generate – costs that resulted in a $900 million loss for 3Q2008.
AT&T is reporting a boom in customer acquisition and, it seems, a bust in profits. According to a recent earnings report, the company activated 2.4 million iPhones but lost $900 million in third-quarter earnings as a result of all the data and voice blowing through Apple’s darling. Source: CrunchGear.
Whatever the reasoning behind the deal it will likely help increase sales & traffic for Starbucks and other retailers. I already spent $4.15 on a Venti Chai Tea Latte to test out the “free” Wi-Fi. I’m happy to report that it works and the Chai Tea was good.
