Starbucks settles T-Mobile WiFi lawsuit

Days after T-Mobile filed a lawsuit against Starbucks accusing it of breach of contract because it's allowing AT&T to provide customers with free WiFi access in its cafes, Starbucks announced it has reached an agreement with AT&T and T-Mobile. The AT&T promotion provides two hours of free WiFi  to Starbucks customers who purchase a Starbucks Reward Card with a minimum of $5 credit on it.  Customers must use their Starbucks Card at least once a month.

T-Mobile, which was the seven-year exclusive paid WiFi provider for Starbucks before the coffee chain transitioned to AT&T, filed a complaint earlier this week charging Starbucks with secretly devising the promotion with AT&T to provide free WiFi in its stores even though T-Mobile still has the right to exclusively sell and promote its WiFi service in Starbucks until the transition to AT&T is complete. Currently only two Starbucks stores have made the transition, the lawsuit said.

It's unclear what type of agreement Starbucks entered into with AT&T and T-Mobile but it appears the lawsuit won't go to trial. According to a T-Mobile spokesperson, "T-Mobile, AT&T, and Starbucks have entered into a memorandum of understanding to resolve their disputes and are committed to providing a high quality WiFi experience for customers.

For more:
- read ars technica

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