• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, June 14, 2010

Don't be surprised to see more laptops, iPads and other devices crowding tables at your nearby Starbucks soon, with the coffee giant announcing Monday it will offer unlimited free WiFi access at all U.S. locations starting next month.

It's about time. Starbucks had previously offered registered users two hours of free Web access a day. After that, they had to pay a small amount. The new free service, which AT&T will continue to provide, requires no registration and no account.

For a company that puts the customer experience at the center of corporate culture, the paid WiFi service in Starbucks outlets was always a bad fit. Just having to register to get Web access was a hassle, and being charged even a relatively small fee ($3.99 for two consecutive hours) for access felt like nickel-and-diming by Starbucks and AT&T. It seemed like the electronic equivalent of charging extra for milk or half-and-half at the self-serve stations. Starbucks should likewise always have considered providing free WiFi as a cost of doing business.

Pressure on Starbucks to offer free WiFi probably came from McDonald's taking that step six months ago. McDonald's increasingly competes with Starbucks in the coffee and breakfast food areas, so the coffee chain likely doesn't want to give consumers more reason to spend time at the Golden Arches. But local coffee shops and restaurants are also increasingly offering free WiFi as a way to entice customers to hang out and order an iced vanilla latte or other food and drink.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz revealed the switch to free WiFi at Wired Business Conference Disruptive by Design, perhaps to lend the move a sheen of digital age innovation. But you would think Starbucks might have been at the forefront of this coffeehouse variation on the freemium model, celebrated by Wired editor Chris Anderson, instead of following McDonald's example.

As if to help make up for the stumble of sticking with paid WiFi for so long, the company will introduced the Starbucks Digital Network, providing free access to paid sites like The Wall Street Journal's, along with special content and free downloads from other sources including iTunes, The New York Times, Patch, USA Today, Yahoo and Zagat.

The offer of free WiFi and access to otherwise paid content could also indirectly benefit AT&T, which has had its share of negative PR lately from the security hole uncovered on its Web site on the iPad, along with its reputation for spotty iPhone service. So when you're at Starbucks next month reading the Journal online, sit back and use the equivalent of the old WiFi fee to order another grande Americano.