Recently AT&T acquired the contract formerly held by T-mobile with Starbucks HotSpot locations.  Prior to the deal T-mobile customers were able to sign up for Hotspot service as an add-on to their contract as well as casual Wifi users simply looking to get Wifi access on their laptop while at Starbucks.  In a strategic move to add AT&T Wifi locations, AT&T took the contract in an effort to expand the locations where iPhone users would be able to take advantage of high-speed data access due to the limitation of EDGE speeds on the device. 

An insider at Starbucks has tipped us on a launch date coming in the first week of April 2008 where the Wifi access would become free.  The initial reports from AT&T announced that anyone needing Wifi access would be allowed a 2 hour window of free service at any of the Starbucks locations, but this access was limited to Data Card owners using the AT&T network.  The full release which allows any user with a Wifi capable device to surf till their heart’s content while sipping their coffee at Starbucks is quickly approaching.  The big question is whether or not this will keep iPhone users happy while they patiently await the 3G iPhone announcement and settle for Starbucks Wifi access and the June iPhone 2.0 software update for official 3rd party applications.