Starbucks, AT&T; join for new Wi-Fi service

Starbucks Corp. and AT&T; Inc. 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 a six-year partnership with T-Mobile, which did not include free Wi-Fi and charged higher fees than AT&T; will.

Starbucks said it would 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 Internet 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.

Current T-Mobile HotSpot customers, who pay from $6 per hourlong session to $9.99 for a day pass to $39.99 a month for unlimited access, will get Wi-Fi access at no extra charge.

Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks’ chief technology officer, would not say how many customers used the T-Mobile service in Starbucks stores but said he expected many more to use the new service. Starbucks will begin rolling it 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.

T-Mobile USA, headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., did not immediately return calls for comment.