(Mashable) -- Starting July 1, Starbucks will offer free Wi-Fi nationwide, with no registration or account required. Even better, Wi-Fi will not be time limited. Starbucks joins an increasing list of brands and chains to offer free Wi-Fi in its stores. For example, last December, McDonald's rolled out free Wi-Fi to nearly all of its restaurants across the country. Panera Bread also offers a similar program. McDonald's and Starbucks both have partnerships with AT&T, which, while often criticized for the quality of its wireless data network, is one of the largest Wi-Fi hotspot providers in the United States. Starbucks was one of the first chains to offer Wi-Fi access to its patrons, first via an agreement with T-Mobile and then with AT&T. Starbucks visitors have been able to enjoy up to two hours of free Wi-Fi from their favorite coffee house, provided they are either an AT&T customer or they use a Starbucks Card to login.
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Starbucks joins an increasing list of brands and chains to offer free Wi-Fi in its stores
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Starbucks will bring quality content that is usually behind a pay wall to customers
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By offering content to users at Starbucks, service providers might gain new customers
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The new program will do away with any sort of registration, which will make those of us who always forget either our AT&T account information or can't find our @placeholder cards extremely happy.