Taco Bell jumping on Wi-Fi bandwagon, will have free access by 2015

July 6, 2011 By Jeff Hughes

Taco Bell Corp in a recent partnership with indoorDirect, hopes to have free Wi-Fi access in all restaurants by 2015

Want a Chalupa? Want free Wi-Fi? Pretty soon you won’t have to choose between the two since Taco Bell is looking at providing Wi-Fi access in all of the chain’s restaurants. The move would allow the Mexican fast food purveyor into a realm filled with the likes of Starbucks and McDonalds.

Taco Bell Crop announced in a recent press release that it will be partnering with indoorDirect to install in-store television network as well as the free Wi-Fi in all 5,600 Taco Bells by the year 2015.

IndoorDIRECT Inc., owns the Restaurant Entertainment Network which offers offers sports segments, movie, TV and video game previews as well as shopping tips and news. Taco Bell says the network will reach 48 million taco loving customers each month.

The Restaurant Entertainment Network is the same service you will find at Carl’s Jr., KFC, Denny’s, Arby’s and other food chains. The indoorDirect company claims their REN entertains 150 million Americans annually while they dine at quick-service restaurants. Besides the television programing, Taco Bell customers will be encouraged to interact with the network by downloading music from the show, receiving opt in text messages and engage in social media campaigns.

The Mexican fast food chain is a mite late to the field, as McDonalds will have its Wi-Fi program running for at least 7 years by the time Taco Bell is done installing in 2015. McDonalds provide free Wi-Fi at 11,500 US locations. Starbucks has had free and unlimited Wi-Fi for a year, with paid Wi-Fi for customers prior to that. According to the AFP, Burger King also announced last year it will begin offering free Wi-Fi in all of its 2,200 locations in Europe, including the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.

Free Wi-Fi is a great draw for these business, much like the way movie theaters worked air conditioning to their advantage before AC was widespread. Taco Bell may be the latest to adopt this trend, but late night soft tacos and internet just seem to go so well we wonder why they didn’t jump on it sooner.

Showing 21 comments

Rilez Brunett at 2:10pm 7th July 2011 now the bathroom will be clogged with disgruntalled patrons with laptops.
Joe Lachiana at 12:10pm 7th July 2011 2015? Who needs it then?
Game Marketing at 10:33am 7th July 2011 Little slow to get on board, but glad they are.
Hal Motley at 8:07am 7th July 2011 I like this, even though I live in the UK!
Max Gordon at 7:32am 7th July 2011 Why will it take them 3 years?
Wayne Gafford at 7:00am 7th July 2011 AFTER THE WAY WE ARE CHARGED FOR WHAT WE ARE GETTING, I WELCOME ANYTHING THAT IS FREE, POINT TAKEN???
Ghengis Fly at 6:53am 7th July 2011 2015??
Jared Sirilo at 6:27am 7th July 2011 Little late on the bandwidth bandwagon. Lol.
Johnson Jacob at 6:24am 7th July 2011 *not to mention the risk factor of an unsecured internet connection. But you would figure each location could use some of their expenses to pay for the minimal equipment and monthly subscription unless their business is that slow, or they are offering a T1 connection or something...
Johnson Jacob at 6:19am 7th July 2011 Most free wifi is cw@p, or the bandwidth is used up so it's practically useless. Might as well use your phone or portable wifi modem...
Kraig Todd King at 6:15am 7th July 2011 I can just go to Mcdonald's now and get get Wi-Fi :-)
Akio Strasser at 5:55am 7th July 2011 2015 isn't bad considering its about 6500 locations. don't think people who go to eat in taco bells really give a crap about wi-fi though....especially with 3G/4G on phones.
Kenny Hwang at 5:54am 7th July 2011 That's good news
Johnson Jacob at 5:46am 7th July 2011 wow... I can hardly wait... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Damon Schmitt at 5:41am 7th July 2011 Someday maybe we'll see Connectivity as a Right, rather than a Luxury.
Digital Trends at 5:40am 7th July 2011 @David - Seriously - what a slow rollout and goofy announcement by Taco Bell
David Carcamo at 5:38am 7th July 2011 2015!? Ha.
Moana Le Mustache at 5:37am 7th July 2011 But I want to eat tacos in a public place while watching funny cat videos now .__.
Brandon Webb at 5:37am 7th July 2011 lmao like im gonna go there with my laptop and listen to mexican music all day 2015 is along way
Lanora Johnson at 5:37am 7th July 2011 riiight lol
Joey-Nyc Rodriguez at 5:36am 7th July 2011 2015 lmao.