Starbucks Settles T-Mobile Wi-Fi Suit

Starbucks has moved to quickly settle a lawsuit brought against it by T-Mobile over the way it transitioned management of its in-store Wi-Fi hotspots to AT&T.

Just last week, T-Mobile filed a lawsuit against coffee giant Starbucks, alleging the chain had colluded with AT&T to breach an existing agreement between Starbucks and T-Mobile over management of in-store Wi-Fi hotspots. Now, it seems all three companies have come to a quick settlement over the dispute, although exact terms weren’t revealed.

T-Mobile had been offering Wi-Fi access in thousands of Starbucks locations for $30 per month with a one-year contract, or $40 a month on a month-to-month basis. Starbucks announced operation of its in-store Wi-Fi access would be converting over to AT&T earlier this year; Starbucks has since opened up Wi-Fi access to Starbucks Card holders, and AT&T has opened up Starbucks’ Wi-Fi locations to some of its own broadband customers as well as iPhone owners.

“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 Wi-Fi experience for customers,” Starbucks spokesperson Stacey Krum said in a statement.

T-Mobile’s dispute with AT&T and Starbucks centered on how Starbucks was transitioning the network to AT&T, alleging that AT&T was opening up free and paid access in locations where it had not transitioned equipment by granting them access to T-Mobile’s network…and thus neatly transitioning the cost of providing access straight onto T-Mobile. The suit sought unspecified damages.