Following in the footsteps of other larger retailers like McDonalds, Starbucks is now offering free, unlimited Wi-Fi at all of its stores in the United States and Canada. Effective on July 1st, a Starbucks Reward Program membership is no longer required, no username or password is needed, and there is no longer a 2-hour restriction to accessing their AT&T wireless Internet. Free Wi-Fi has long been the top request of Starbucks customers.

Not only will wireless Internet be provided at no charge, Starbucks is also going to provide free access to paid subscription websites such as Zagat and The Wall Street Journal when accessed through their wireless network. Starbucks is banking on more customers to stop in and use their free wireless, thus driving up business.

This change has the potential to change the way we access the Internet. With Starbucks offering free Wi-Fi, this could prompt airports, hotels, and other places that charge for Internet access to eventually follow suit. And with Starbucks’s large presence in most major cities, you could potentially be within range of a Starbucks wireless network at all times, depending on where you live and work. This would significantly reduce the need to surf on a 3G network, ultimately hurting the mobile phone industry.
Also effective on July 1st, Finland became the first country to make broadband a legal right for all citizens. Every resident of Finland now has the right to access a 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection, and there are plans to increase that to 2Mbps by 2012 and 100Mbps by 2015.

Can Starbucks and Finland’s recent moves change the way the United States government provides Internet access to its citizens? More and more, everything is turning to the Internet. Is it just a matter of time before free Internet and Wi-Fi is available everywhere?