AT&T adds consumer play to Wi-Fi stew

AT&T has announced a new consumer-focused Wi-Fi service launching this week at McDonald’s restaurants in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut—not to be confused with its VPN connectivity agreement with GRIC, or subsidiary AT&T Wireless’ Wi-Fi roaming agreement with Wayport.

AT&T Wi-Fi Service is launching as a free offering at 60 McDonald’s restaurants until the end of August. After that, users will be charged $2.99 per day for access. AT&T Wireless’ agreement with Wayport charges users of hotel, airport and other business traveler hot spots $9.99 per session or proportional discounts for multi-connection or monthly packages.

In clarifying the carrier’s Wi-Fi strategy, an AT&T spokesman said its VPN offering and AT&T Wireless’ Wayport agreement are targeted at different classes of business users, while the AT&T Wi-Fi Service through McDonald’s is a consumer offering.

“Wi-Fi is still a very new area, and we can take advantage of an array of options as we seek to ensure our customers get the full benefits of Wi-Fi,” he said. “Our approach to Wi-Fi is multi-faceted.”

Cometa Networks, the start-up Wi-Fi hot spot operator in which AT&T owns an equity stake—and which already is supporting a smaller McDonald’s Wi-Fi trial in New York City—is providing the infrastructure to support the service.