AT&T Inc. and Starbucks Corp. today announced the start of a nationwide rollout of Wi-Fi service at some Starbucks coffee shops, starting with locations in San Antonio.

The nationwide rollout will continue throughout 2008, the companies said in a statement. The deal was first announced Feb. 11, when Starbucks said it was moving to AT&T Wi-Fi instead of T-Mobile USA as its in-store hot spot provider.

Although some reports have described the Starbucks rollout as offering free Wi-Fi, there are some limits. Starting May 1, AT&T broadband Internet and Wi-Fi customers who have paid a monthly fee to AT&T will have complimentary Wi-Fi access at more than 7,000 Starbucks locations nationwide. AT&T offers free Wi-Fi service to its three higher-speed residential broadband subscribers, all of its small business subscribers and all of its U-verse high-speed Internet subscribers.

Source: DailyTech

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