Want an e-mail with your espresso?

Starbucks is starting to offer wireless Internet access in bay area outlets.

By DAVE GUSSOW
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 24, 2003

Starbucks lovers in Florida can get something extra with their caffe latte starting next month: wireless Internet access.

The coffee giant will provide access to customers for surfing the Web and checking e-mail on notebook computers or Pocket PC handheld devices at 11 locations in the Tampa Bay area and 100 more in Jacksonville, Miami and Orlando.

The service, a partnership with wireless provider T-Mobile and Hewlett Packard, starts Feb. 12. Starbucks already has service at more than 2,000 locations elsewhere in the United States.

"We officially launched the service in late August 2002 and have plans to extend the service to 70 percent of Starbucks-owned stores in North America over the next few years," Starbucks spokesman Nick Davis said by e-mail. Florida is the first market it is adding this year.

Wireless Internet access through technology known as Wi-Fi is spreading to coffee shops, airports, hotels and even specific zones within some cities. (Web sites such as www.80211hotspots.com show where access is available.)

Starbucks would not give specifics on customer use of wireless access, "but we do have thousands of people using the service tens of thousands of times per month," Davis said.

While Starbucks is offering a 24-hour trial for free, wireless Internet access does have its costs:

Users need what's known as an 802.11 card for their laptop or handheld organizer, which can cost $50 to $60. T-Mobile has a variety of price plans, starting at $29.99 a month for local access and $49.99 for national, which require contracts. Prepaid and pay-as-you-go also are offered, but without contracts.

In addition to Starbucks, T-Mobile's service is available, or will be, at American Airlines clubs, Delta Air Lines and Borders book stores. (For information, check www.t-mobile.com/hotspot/.)

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