At first blush , Starbucks ’ decision to drop T - Mobile and practice AT&T to provide in - store Wi - Fi access may look like just another inside - business choice . A closer look , however , shows that there are at least six means this decision could change the way many of us are mobile .
As a practical matter , the modulation to AT&T means that anybody with a Starbucks card , which provides in - store credit , will get two hours of free Wi - Fi access a 24-hour interval . Currently , all Starbucks customers using T - Mobile ’s Wi - Fi connection users must pay for accession .
But free access is just the beginning . Here are six changes that have been create — or at least clarified — by the Starbucks - AT&T arrangement and what those change will mean for users .
1. More free Wi-Fi
Coffee and Wi - Fi have always been sold separately in Starbucks . However , that modeling is n’t work for Starbucks anymore .
Now , Starbucks “ will be using Wi - Fi to trade more of their core products , ” say Derek Kerton , principal of The Kerton Group , a telecom consulting firm . “ Other coffee workshop use ( free or loud ) Wi - Fi to get people into the store and Starbucks felt they were lose business . ”
Dan Lowden agreed that free - Wi - Fi benefits both customers and Starbucks . Lowden is vice Chief Executive of marketing and business maturation for Wayport , which is the behind - the - scenes provider of the AT&T - branded Wi - Fi service that will be in Starbucks stores .
“ It gives customers more value and that makes them more unenviable , ” Lowden pronounce . “ Sticky ” cite to customers who pass more and come back more often . He articulate Wayport , which also provides Wi - Fi in locations such as McDonald ’s restaurants , has run frequent surveys that confirm that fact .
The bottom stock : Expect to see even more free hotspots at a peachy form of venues now that Starbucks has taken the plunge .
2. More and better bundles
If this trade is a marketing win for Starbucks , it ’s also a big win for AT&T , even though the telecommunication supplier probably wo n’t make much money straight from Wi - Fi .
“ Is AT&T essay to make money on Wi - Fi hot spot ? ” asked Kerton . “ No . Like Starbucks , they want to apply it to sell their key intersection . ” And that , Kerton and others note , mean complimentary or tatty Wi - Fi will progressively be part of service bundles offered to customers .
Such bundle , for instance , could include any or all of AT&Ts servicing , such as DSL and cellular spokesperson and information , theoretically providing attractive pricing if client are uncoerced to lock into acquiring all those services from a single vendor .
“ I reckon we ’ll definitely see a great deal more bundles , ” said Neil Strother of JupiterResearch . “ AT&T and Verizon in particular are looking for the ternary and fourfold play if they can get it . They can be your broadband ISP , they can ply television receiver , landline voice access and radio receiver . Now , with Wi - Fi , that ’s even undecomposed . ”
The bottom parentage : Bundling is not a new phenomenon , but expect to see many more parcel , particularly those involving access code to hotspots . The welfare is unspoiled value for users . The gotcha : You must commit to a individual provider for multiple serving , which means less freedom of selection .
3. T-Mobile is hurt
“ To put it brusquely , I think it ’s a tough loss for them , ” pronounce JupiterMedia ’s Strother .
Part of the trouble was that T - Mobile was lock up into an out - of - date business program , Kerton said .
“ T - Mobile ’s poser was base on what red-hot spotlight were in 2002 and that model was n’t working any longer , ” Kerton said . “ They have n’t show themselves very forward thinking or conciliatory in terms of pricing or hold start the Starbucks account . If it ’s a black eye , it ’s of their own fashioning . ”
The bottom line : It ’s way too early to tell how much T - Mobile will be bruise . But the loss of Starbucks for certain ca n’t serve and , if T - Mobile stumbles , competition in the cellular sphere will lessen .
4. More iPhones and other wireless devices
analyst and diligence type agreed that more free hotspots could lead to increased sales of Wi - Fi - equipped peregrine devices and , in particular , more iPhones .
“ iPhone is a wonderful twist but ( free Wi - Fi ) will help trade all types Wi - Fi machine like play devices , music machine , tv camera , notebooks , pill , ultra - mobile PC , ” Wayport ’s Lowden enounce .
For example , photographers with Wi - Fi - outfit camera could stop into a coffee bean shop and upload photos to a exposure military service . Or , wireless game devices could be used to act interactive game , Lowden said . However , Apple is likely to peculiarly benefit from the move because , in the U.S. , AT&T has an exclusive placement to betray the iPhone . And Apple already has a deal in billet in which iPhone user can access music for detached when they ’re in Starbucks .
“ AT&T could bundle Starbucks into the iPhone service , ” articulate Phil Redman , an psychoanalyst for Gartner , echoing far-flung guess that has been circulating around the Web .
The bottom line of credit : The Starbucks - AT&T programme could both be the jog needed to popularize a emcee of new Wi - Fi - quick devices and could also bring home the bacon an extra hike for the already - popular iPhone .
5. Mobile media everywhere
Deals such as the one between Starbucks and Apple togive free melodic phrase to iPhone userswhile they sip their latte could become more common , some analysts state . Such offerings are meant to further increase store dealings .
“ It makes Starbucks another point of memory access ( for euphony ) with Apple selling tracks or giving them away , ” said Strother . “ We ’ll see more of that sort of thing — giving away Song as teaser or get detached music when you ’re in a store . ”
Another example , Strother noted , is that Nokia is tattle about give away free medicine for a twelvemonth if you buy a specific type of phone . “ This trend has n’t really make it yet , but Starbucks decidedly could diddle into it . ”
for sure , the base exists at place such as Starbucks . Lowden suppose that much liberal media can be stored on local servers that Wayport will install in each Starbucks store .
“ Our scheme is to enable all kinds of public and secret side applications on the connection , ” Lowden say .
The bottom origin : Music and Wi - Fi combined would make a powerful marketing peter and Starbucks has already dip its toe in those waters . It is likely that , in the future , whether you are in a coffee shop class or get under one’s skin your oil changed , you ’ll have easy entree to more media .
6. Small, independent coffee shops could be hurt
In Seattle , where coffee is something of an obsession , Starbucks has long had a reputation of moving into neck of the woods and pushing out small , independent deep brown shops . Whether or not that repute is warranted , many dread that small burnt umber shop class will be further imperiled by Starbucks move since those small shop often utilize spare Wi - Fi to attract customers .
Wayport ’s Lowden dissent .
“ I honestly think it ’s good for everyone , ” he said . “ If more multitude use ( gratis Wi - Fi ) at strategical marque ( like Starbucks ) , they ’ll become used to having it everywhere when they ’re mobile . More people will use it , whether they ’re at a strategical mark or a mum - and - pop memory board . ”
The bottom line : confessedly , this is n’t a technology return , but this move could result in fewer choices when it ’s time to get your go - juice and enter .
