SBC continues to expand its "FreedomLink" Wi-Fi network with a new deal to install hotspots in 270 Caribou Coffee locations. Pricing is $20 a month to use FreedomLink nationwide on a minimum one-year contract, or $8 for a single day of use. According to this article, SBC may offer a $4 rate for two hours, which makes a great deal more sense.

These coffee shop/Wi-Fi announcements have become so frequent that I'm wondering what coffee shop owners out there realistically think they can escape installing Wi-Fi within their venues. Caribou is on the late end of things and, judging by this quote, probably would have held out longer if their customers didn't demand the service:

"Customers have said they want to have Wi-Fi in the store," said Chris Toal, Caribou vice president of marketing. "At the end of the day, it's a service we need to offer."

However, coffee shop owners need to be careful what providers they partner with. I'm still not convinced an SBC or T-Mobile is the best way to go. I've been to several Paneras over the past few weeks, where Wi-Fi is free for all patrons, and I just don't see how a venue owner can sit back and wait for service providers to come up with the right pricing model while they struggle to get as many customers in the door. I keep hearing rumors about various Starbucks managers who have asked to offer their Wi-Fi networks for free to compete with the independent coffee shops down the street.

I predict that SBC's FreedomLink will eventually become a great deal more "free" than it is today. Corporate customers, for starters, will find the service bundled into their core communications services.