McDonald's to offer wireless Internet in San Francisco area

SAN FRANCISCO -- The counter help will be saying "You want Wi-Fi with that?" now that residents of the technology-focused Bay Area will be able to get a Big Mac and wireless Internet access at the same time.

McDonald's Corp., which already has been offering wireless Web access at 10 restaurants in New York City, is expanding the pilot program to dozens more restaurants spanning the San Francisco Bay region.

The fast-food chain launched wireless access in about 55 area restaurants Tuesday. About 20 more will soon follow.

Additional restaurants in New York and Chicago also are slated to become so-called wireless "hotspots" as part of a McDonald's goal to offer wireless service at several hundred restaurants by year's end.

Cost for a two-hour wireless connection at Bay Area restaurants will be $4.95, the company said. During an introductory promotion through Aug. 12, patrons will get the wireless access free with the purchase of a Big Mac combo meal.

The McDonald's program coincides with the growing trend of wireless computing. The short-range wireless access technology known as Wi-Fi is increasingly available in coffee houses, hotels and airports, and is being built into laptops and handheld computers.

"Right now, the (computing) industry is targeting the business traveler, but to get the market to really grow, you have to pull in the mainstream consumer, and McDonald's plays really well into that," said Tim Shelton, an analyst at Allied Business Intelligence market research firm.

The firm projects that the number of Wi-Fi hotspots in the nation will more than quadruple to 66,300 in 2007 from 12,400 in 2003.

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On the Net:

http://www.mcdwireless.com