I spend a lot of time doing work at the coffee shop across the street from my apartment.

Why?

Three reasons:

• The coffee is PRETTY GOOD

• The refills are FREE

• Even though the WiFi is NOT FREE, I CAN ACCESS MY OWN WIFI HOTSPOT FROM MY APARTMENT ACROSS THE STREET…

…so I can surf the Internet all day long without paying for it.

But starting on July 1, thanks to Starbucks…

…there will soon be more than 11,000 new places around the US where I can go to surf the web for free.

Yes, starting on July 1 Starbucks will offer free unlimited Internet access at all its US stores.

So, is this a big deal?

You bet it is…and here’s why:

POINT #1:

FREE WIFI AT STARBUCKS…

…SOLVES A BIG PROBLEM IN WASHINGTON

In Washington, they talk a lot about having a “National Broadband Strategy.”

That means getting broadband internet everywhere it’s needed, including:

• Every town and city
• Every business
• Every school

Although free WiFi at Starbucks doesn’t address all these issues…

…it does create a huge WiFi mesh network over huge portions of the country, at no cost to taxpayers or the US government.

If you want to know more about the US government’s overall national broadband strategy…

…go to www.Broadband.gov.

POINT #2:

FREE WIFI AT STARBUCKS…

…SOLVES A BIG PROBLEM FOR MANY WHO ARE UNEMPLOYED

One challenge for the unemployed…

…is having a convenient place to go to stay on top of email and to respond to job listings throughout the day, and to charge a laptop battery.

By offering fast, easy and free access to WiFi, along with fresh, hot coffee…

…Starbucks offers 11,000 obvious places for a job seeker to stop and get quickly online during a job of job hunting.

In fact, the New York Times reports that catering to job seekers has already allowed Starbucks to reverse its own negative business trend.

Meanwhile, as part of this free WiFi rollout…

…Starbucks is also creating the “Starbucks Digital Network” which will include free tools for people who are writing resumes and looking for jobs.

POINT #3:

FREE WIFI AT STARBUCKS…

…SOLVES A BIG PROBLEM FOR MANY WHO ARE SELF-EMPLOYED

If you own your own business and work out of your house…

…you may not have a good place to meet and brainstorm with others who are self-employed.

But free WiFi at Starbucks means…

…there is always be a Starbucks halfway between you and the other person, where you can meet and talk and access the Internet together.

POINT #4:

FREE WIFI AT STARBUCKS…

…SOLVES A BIG PROBLEM FOR COMPANIES WITH LARGE MOBILE WORKFORCES

Like many outside salespeople, lots of people spend their days working away from the office.

And for many of these people…

…getting online with a computer can be both time-consuming and expensive.

But free WiFi at Starbucks makes both problems go away, because mobile employees know they can jump online for free at any Starbucks…

…and as we all know, here in the US there’s a Starbucks almost EVERYWHERE.

POINT #5:

FREE WIFI AT STARBUCKS…

…MAY EVEN BE GOOD NEWS FOR YOUR SMALL LOCALLY-OWNED COFFEEHOUSE

At first glance, we might think free WiFi at Starbucks…

…means the kiss of death for the small locally-owned coffee house down the street.

But this may be a great thing for locally-owned coffee houses, too.

Here’s why:

• Free WiFi at Starbucks means more people and even longer lines at Starbucks

• More people at Starbucks means more some people get discouraged and go elsewhere

• As more people get discouraged and go elsewhere, they seek out non-Starbucks alternatives like the locally-owned coffeehouse down the street.

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