McDonald’s Goes Wi-Fi with Wayport
After conducting a nine-month test, McDonald’s chose high-speed Wi-Fi provider Wayport to provide wireless Internet access to thousands of its restaurant locations.
Wi-Fi locations will be designated with signage that displays the Golden Arches in the universal Internet @ symbol.
The pilot program put Wayport up against two other providers, Cometa and Toshiba, in various McDonald’s locations. After gathering feedback, McDonald’s eventually chose Wayport as its provider and plans to roll out Wi-Fi service in as many as 3,000 locations by the end of the year and up to 13,000 future locations.
McDonald’s and Wayport are already converting hundreds of existing pilot locations in Seattle, Chicago and New York over to the service with more announcements regarding additional markets to follow in the coming months.
Walk-up customers can pay $2.95 for a two-hour wireless Internet connection, with other pricing options available. The connection will include free digital versions of USA Today, The New York Times and BusinessWeek.
