Starbucks (NASDAQ: [[ticker: SBUX]]) began offering unlimited free Wi-Fi in all of its corporate-owner stores across the United States and in Canada today. The company said it would be rolling out the new program July 1 “as a part of its ongoing commitment to enhancing the customer experience.” Prior to this, free Wi-Fi has been capped at two hours per day and limited only to customers registered in the My Starbucks Reward program, which required them to log in and spend money at the location that day in order to access the Internet. Starbucks said the new program will allow customers to “surf the Web, connect with social networks, search for jobs or work at their neighborhood Starbucks,” which could help foster more startup activity, according to Matt Shapiro, in a guest editorial today on Xconomy.
Author: Thea Chard
Before joining Xconomy, Thea spent a year working as the editor of another startup, the hyperlocal Seattle neighborhood news site QueenAnneView.com. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California, where she double-majored in print journalism and creative writing. While in college, Thea spent a semester studying in London and writing for the London bureau of the Los Angeles Times. Indulging in her passion for feature writing, she has covered a variety of topics ranging from the arts, to media, clean technology and breaking news. Before moving back to Seattle, Thea worked in new media development on two business radio shows, "Marketplace" and "Marketplace Money" by American Public Media. Her clips have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Santa Monica Daily Press, Seattle magazine and her college paper, the Daily Trojan. Thea is a native Seattleite who grew up in Magnolia, and now lives in Queen Anne.
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