Kinko's Inc. is joining Starbucks Coffee Co. and Borders Group Inc. in making high-speed wireless fidelity Internet access available to in-store customers. Kinko's, a provider of business services such as web-based printing and video-conferencing, has agreed to make available in its more than 1,000 stores access to the wi-fi network of T-Mobile USA. To access the wi-fi network, consumers must subscribe to T-Mobile. Fees run $29.99 a month for unlimited access, or a pay-as-you-go option at $2.99 for 15 minutes of access time.
Although each store location is set up with its own wi-fi local area network, more commonly known as hotspots, a single subscription to T-Mobile provides access to any wi-fi hotspot at Kinko's, Starbucks, Borders or other participating companies. T-Mobile, which has also set up wi-fi hotspots at American Airlines Admiral Clubs, says its wi-fi service is now available at more than 2,300 locations, including about 2,000 Starbucks stores.
By the end of this year, T-Mobile expects to have wi-fi access available in about 5,000 locations. Borders, which recently started to participate, expects to have most of its 410 retail stores offering wi-fi access by mid-June, and T-Mobile says it's also planning to offer wi-fi in airport travel clubs sponsored by United Air Lines and Delta Airlines.
T-Mobile installs the wi-fi antennas that extend each location's Internet access over a wireless local area network, but it declines to discuss the terms it works out with retailers and others that host its hotspots.
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