Hot-Spot or Mobile Broadband

Huge news in the WiFi Hotspot world today. Starbucks has agreed a deal with BT Openzone that sees them replace T-Mobile as the sole provider of WiFi in 650 Starbucks coffee shops in the UK.

BT Openzone already partners with O2 to provide WiFi access to its customers.  You’ll soon be able to get WiFi access on your iPhone in every Starbucks in the UK and from the summer O2’s mobile broadband customers will also be able to access WiFi whilst sipping a grande caramel skinny latte.

The deal will last 5 years and BT Openzone start installing the service this week with the rollout complete by the end of the summer.

So if you’re currently deciding which mobile broadband with WiFi package to get and you’re a closet Starbucks fan, forget T-Mobile and get O2.

Go to O2.co.uk to see their latest mobile broadband deals

Go to T-Mobile to see their latest mobile broadband deals

One of the minor parts of O2’s iPhone 3G announcement was the expansion of the access to wi-fi hotspots from 7,500 to 9,500 hotspots. This is achieved by adding access to BT’s Openzones on top if access to The Cloud (who incidentally are the providers of a large chunk of BT’s wifi network. Great news for iPhone users, new and old.

Should we expect the same benefit being offered to O2’s Mobile Broadband users? It would surely make sense…

…you heard it here first.