The incessant beeping of French fry timers could soon become your soundtrack for surfing the Web, when McDonald's starts offering free Wi-Fi at many of its U.S. restaurants.
According to the Wall Street Journal, McDonald's has struck a deal with AT&T to offer free Wi-Fi at 11,000 of its 14,000 restaurants nationwide. Previously, wireless Internet cost $2.95 for two hours, but was free to AT&T's wired and wireless customers. The switch to free Wi-Fi will happen in mid-January.
McDonald's is hoping the offer will encourage people to stay a while after ordering a McCafe coffee drink -- which incidentally costs about $3 -- possibly ordering some food as well. The move gives McDonald's a leg up on Starbucks, whose Wi-Fi requires either a Starbucks rewards card, an AT&T DSL subscription, a T-Mobile subscription or $4 for two hours of service. It also threatens local coffee shops that don't enforce time limits.
Personally, I can't see myself bringing a laptop into McDonald's to get work done. The atmosphere inside just doesn't strike me as relaxing enough, and I'd rather not soak in the smell of a deep fryer. But thanks to McDonalds' ubiquity, it's at least nice to know free Wi-Fi would be easy to find in an emergency. I'd probably be guilt-tripped into buying a coffee too, if not a $3 faux cappuccino.
