Free McDonald's WiFi beginning in 2010

Written by Nicholas Huber
Saturday, 19 December 2009 04:49

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Beginning in 2010, McDonald’s fast food restaurants will be removing the fee for WiFi Internet access nationwide, thus making it one of the largest providers of free WiFi access in the United States.Research shows that customers have ‘constantly asked for’ the free access, said one of the fast food chain’s officals, and those customers spent more on food.

A rough estimate of 11,000 of the 13,000 plus U.S. locations will begin to offer the free WiFi service under a partnership created between McDonald’s and AT&T.

"We're excited about it," said David Groom, McDonald’s chief information officer in the U.S.. "One thing our customers have told us is: 'We like your Wi-Fi, but would you make it free?' This is one thing they've consistently asked for. It's just another reason to come to McDonald's."


The best part about receiving the free WiFi service is that you do not have to buy anything from McDonald’s. "Free is free," Groom said in a statement with The Dallas Morning News.

Groom told the newspaper publication that research financed by his company showed that consumers would spend more on food if they could surf the Web.

As of right now, the AT&T already offers free access to its WiFi network at public hotspots like Starbucks, McDonald’s and several other places.

The U.S. currently has more public WiFi hotspots than any other country and the figures are still increasing every day, with more users from smartphones than actual laptop computers.

While I do not advocate eating out at fast food restaurants, I do advocate the use of free WiFi. So go use it! But make sure you wait until the first of the new year, because McDonald’s currently charges you $2.95 for 2 hours of access.

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