On Feb 11, 12:58 pm, John Navas <spamfilt...@navasgroup.com> wrote:
> <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080211-starbucks-forget-t-mobi...>
>
> At Starbucks, T-Mobile is out and AT&T is in, at least when it comes
> to WiFi. AT&T and Starbucks announced their new partnership this
> morning, saying that the carrier plans to offer a variety of service
> offerings at 7,000 Starbucks locations in the US. Best of all, many
> customers will be able to access the service for free (as in beer),
> with paid offerings as low as $3.99 for two hours of use.
>
> AT&T says that, beginning this spring, anyone who uses a Starbucks
> Card (a prepaid gift card, like one you would give to a friend) will
> be able to get up to two hours of free WiFi service per day at any
> Starbucks location with WiFi service. Better yet, if you're an AT&T
> broadband or U-verse subscriber, you'll be able to use unlimited WiFi
> at Starbucks for free. For everyone else, paid service will begin at
> $3.99 per two-hour session, and monthly membership will go for $19.99
> per month. Comparatively, T-Mobile's offerings were limited to $9.99
> per day and between $19.99 and $39.99 per month (depending on whether
> you were also a T-Mobile wireless subscriber and are willing to sign
> a contract to lock in a lower rate).
>
> Unfortunately, AT&T wireless customers--such as the plethora of
> iPhone owners who frequent Starbucks--don't have any special access
> as of yet. "This offer is for AT&T broadband customers who can access
> WiFi in the stores over a WiFi-enabled device. [iPhone users] who are
> not broadband subscribers can't access for free at this time," AT&T
> spokesperson Brad Mays told Ars, although the company says that it
> plans to expand its Starbucks benefits to those subscribers "soon."
>
> The move is surprising, given how strong a relationship Starbucks
> appeared to have with T-Mobile in the past. In September, Apple
> announced a partnership with Starbucks and T-Mobile that would allow
> iPhone and iPod touch owners to hop on T-Mobile's HotSpots for free
> in order to access the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. (Mays told us that
> the iTunes Wi-Fi Store partnership and rollout would continue under
> AT&T's WiFi service.) And T-Mobile has used its partnership with
> Starbucks to market some of its own services--namely its
> newly-launched UMA (cell-to-WiFi) service called HotSpots@Home.
> Customers with supported phones could switch between the cell network
> and WiFi HotSpots to save on minutes and a get better signal.
>
> Starbucks and AT&T do, however, acknowledge that there were many
> loyal T-Mobile HotSpot customers, and they are offering a special
> deal to those who subscribe to T-Mobile's service. "T-Mobile HotSpot
> customers will be able to continue to access WiFi services at no
> additional cost, through an agreement between AT&T and T-Mobile,"
> Starbucks said in a statement. So if you pay for HotSpot coverage on
> your T-Mobile plan (particularly for the aforementioned UMA service),
> you should still be able to continue using it as usual on the new
> Starbucks network.
>
> [MORE]
>
> --
> Best regards, FAQ FOR AT&T/CINGULAR WIRELESS:
> John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/AT&T_Wireless_FAQ>
An odd thing happened today. I used to be able to connect to the T-
mobile hotspot via my blackberry with wifi. This had worked at both
Starbucks and Borders, but now doesn't work at either location. Now it
asks me to sign in. I spent some time with Hot Spot support, which
sent me to Blackberry support, which admits they knew nothing about
Hot Spots. In retrospect, I thing the Hot Spot support was the right
group to bug.
I'll try in the AM when I can probably track down a supervisor.