<lol>, The Register's picked it up :) http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/26747.html
Starbuck's sells free WiFi access By Thomas C Greene in Washington Posted: 20/08/2002 at 09:23 GMT If they can sell burnt, ruined coffee at premium prices, why not wireless Web access one could have for free? So goes the reasoning behind Starbucks' decision to offer WiFi at $30.00 a month in Portland, Oregon's Pioneer Square, where free access is already provided by grassroots outfit Personal Telco. According to this item in The Oregonian, Starbuck's is muscling in on the same channel already taken by PT, with the result that users of both services are enjoying degraded performance -- only those going through Starbuck's are enjoying it at a premium price. The company is using T-Mobile, a VoiceStream outfit, as their provider. Those who desire access outside the downtown 'WiFi free zone' are welcome to shell out $50.00 a month for coverage in airports and other Starbuck's stores. As the turf war warms up, we have to wonder if PT can give away what a slick marketing illusionist like Starbuck's can sell. If they can make billions hustling the worst coffee I've ever tasted outside institutional settings, well, no doubt this initiative will go quite nicely. � -----Message d'origine----- De : Christopher Mc Carthy [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Envoy� : 20 August 2002 11:42 � : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Objet : "Starbucks Clashes With WiFi Hobbyists Over Airwaves" 'Lifted' off slashdot - <http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/02/08/20/0431202.shtml? tid=98> , of potential major interest... A little quote from the article <<"If we take the stance that we're the little guy and start hopping around, what happens when there are no channels left?" Shand said.>> Hear hear, way to go :)) Your Rights Online: Starbucks Clashes With WiFi Hobbyists Over Airwaves Posted by timothy on Tuesday August 20, @03:29AM from the dr-evil-at-play dept. fobbman writes: "Portland Oregon's Pioneer Square (the heart of downtown) has had free WiFi access provided since February by Personal Telco, which is a local group of computer hobbyists. Now Starbuck's is planning on offering the same service on the same band in the same area for $29.95 a month, according to this story in the local fishwrap <http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_sta ndard.xsl?/base/front_page/102975810817580.xml>. Without regulation or licensing, and with WiFi growing, this could become a common problem." -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
