Starbucks has had to change a few aspects of its business model, thanks to its large presence and the offering of gourmet coffee from every retailer, specifically McDonalds. So after adopting regular marketing (i.e. television commercials) for the first time, and introducing tiny cups of coffee for $1 (to better compete with McDonalds) the world's favorite cozy cafe is stepping into a new realm with the offering of free and paid Wi-Fi offerings in a partnership with AT&T, through its Wi-FiSM.
[img src="" caption="" credit="" alt=""]It's a good deal for AT&T, as the company gets to take advantage of about 7,000 of Starbucks' locations in order to provide Wi-Fi hotspots. Similar to Argo Tea's setup, customers at Starbucks will be able to enjoy two hours of free Wi-Fi per day with options to purchase additional time or a monthly plan, and AT&T Internet customers get unlimited free access to the Wi-Fi service. Not only does this bring a value-added perk to AT&T customers, but it's a way to try and get more customers signed onto its service. The whole deal should be good for Apple, too. ;)