Tuesday McDonald’s announced the addition of broad band wireless access to 75 stores around the S.F. bay area. Pricing is $4.95 for two hours, and I seem to remember seeing somewhere that buying a value meal got you a free hour.
This is all part of nation wide pilot program McDonald’s is putting on. New York and Chicago are also included in the pilot. You can find locations on the pilot’s promotional website: www.mcdwireless.com . My favorite quote from their site is F.A.Q. number 14:
A14: All participating restaurants will be clearly identified with the distinct @M sinage. Seeing many, many laptops inside one of our restaurants will also provide a valuable clue.
It will be interesting to see how this all pans out. Wireless is big news in technology circles, and is spreading like wild fire, but it has yet to prove to be profitable. It is sort of a catch 22, there is not that much public demand for high-speed wireless access, so wireless providers are hesitant to increase coverage areas, but how can you increase demand if the people who would use it, can’t because there is not enough coverage?
McDonald’s is betting that the wireless services will bring in a new class of clientele; students and business travelers, who probably never thought about stopping in at a McDonald’s before, but who may now that they can check their email there. Other sectors have been using wireless to entice customers to their business, hotels, airports and cafes being the most noteable ones.
This story first came to my attention from the Press Democrat article .