McDONALD'S SERVES UP A SIDE OF Wi-Fi

Global fast food giant McDonald's has never been afraid to try something new — just look at such short-lived items as the McDLT, or its latest expansion into gourmet salads, as proof.

Now that sense of adventure is extending into wireless Internet access. After launching a Wi-Fi access trial at 10 of its restaurants in New York City this spring, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company has decided Wi-Fi is ready to be a mainstream menu item rather than dissolve into the kind of ignominy reserved for the McLean Deluxe.

In a widely heralded launch event in downtown San Francisco, McDonald's West Division President Don Thompson announced that the company is expanding its Wi-Fi pilot program to include hot spots at 75 of its restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

The service rollout, which had been expected in recent weeks, is being done in partnership with Intel and network operator Wayport. Cometa Networks has been McDonald's network partner in the ongoing New York program. Nomadix supplies services in both locations. The Bay Area program is also the next step in McDonald's plan to offer service at several hundred of its restaurants in New York, San Francisco and Chicago by the end of this year, Thompson said.

While McDonald's joins a growing list of large retailers offering Wi-Fi, some potential users wonder how complementary the service will be to restaurants designed for visits that last no longer than it takes to gobble a cheeseburger. “I see the potential for a lot of screaming kids and uncomfortable seats bogging down my Internet experience,” said one frequent user of public Wi-Fi hot spots.

The expansion also comes with a change of menu. McDonald's trial in New York City offered a free hour of Wi-Fi access with the purchase of a full meal, while additional time was $4.95 per hour thereafter. In the Bay Area service, users are charged $4.95 for two hours with no free period. McDonald's could not be reached for comment.

Another Wi-Fi user observed, “The menu and the whole design of the ordering area encourages you to get in and out quickly. Will people really want to sit and work there?”

However, if McDonald's continues its expansion plans for Wi-Fi, its primary strength as fast food retailer — convenience — could become its best asset as a Wi-Fi provider.

“McDonald's [with 12,000 stores nationwide] is about the most ubiquitous place to offer Wi-Fi,” said Michelle DeWenter, marketing manager at Wayport. She said McDonald's fits the profile for the type of venue that Wi-Fi users have indicated they want.

“With the thousands of ‘windshield warriors,’ this offers that group of people a convenient way to check their e-mail and keep in touch with their home office during the day,” DeWenter said. Thus far, Wayport has focused on airports and hotels as its primary venues for Wi-Fi access. McDonald's is its first retail partner.

Wayport conducts monthly customer surveys to keep up with fresh market intelligence about what its users want, DeWenter said. McDonald's also will conduct in-depth surveys with the customers that use its Wi-Fi offering to determine user attitude and acceptance.