Boingo adds Starbucks USA, McDonalds

Excellent news in from Boingo Wireless, the international WiFi hotspot company. They’ve just announced that, on the back of their going live with McDonalds last month, they’ll shortly be adding support for Starbucks USA coffee shops. So, if you’re a member, you’ll be able to use your credentials to login and use the WiFI at Starbucks.

This is very good news indeed. Although I am becoming more and more in favour of free wireless hotspots (e.g. Coffee Republic’s news yesterday), there is certainly a role for high quality, managed networks in many locations. Being able to sign up to one supplier — such as Boingo — and then get access almost everywhere, well, that’s the way ahead.

You can, as Dave Hagan, President & CEO of Boingo points out in today’s newsletter, already use your Boingo account at Starbucks across San Antonio, Texas.

While we’re at it, if you’re flying around North America or the UK — and you’re using an iPhone — you can get 15 minutes WiFi access, courtesy of Boingo, by watching a 15-second ad. Sounds like a good deal to me, I reckon. Just hunt for the Boingo hotspot SSID and launch Safari on your gorgeous piece of kit. Don’t worry, the offer is apparently due to be extended to the iPhones poor second cousins — Nokia, Windows Mobile and Sony Ericsson devices 😉

Let’s talk Turkey:

Unlimited US Boingo wireless: Just under $22/month.

Boingo Global? Just under $40/month. No per minute charges. Nice.

(Thanks Mark)