McDonald's takes free WiFi mainstream, Company becomes UK's biggest provider of free WiFi
UK Press Releases
October 8, 2007
McDonald's today announced the roll-out of free high speed wireless internet access across almost 1,200 restaurants in the UK, making it the UK's biggest provider of free wireless internet access. The move will take free WiFi mainstream in a market that has been dominated by pay-as-you-go or contract services.
The free service will benefit a broad range of McDonald's customers, from business people making a pit stop to check email between meetings to those looking for a leisurely break at the weekend to download music. In fact, a regular hotspot user who pays to log on for just an hour a week in a coffee shop could stand to save as much as £260 per year on premium WiFi charges by using McDonald's free service.
Steve Easterbrook, President and Chief Executive Officer, McDonald's Restaurants Ltd said: "The launch of free WiFi in our restaurants in the UK is an exciting move that we believe will further enhance our customers' experience when they visit us. More people than ever are looking to access the internet on the move, whether it's on their laptops, mobile phones, PDAs or even games consoles, and free access in our restaurants will provide a quick and convenient way for them to do this.
"What's more, we hope that this will be a breath of fresh air and give greater choice for WiFi hotspot users who have had little choice but to pay by the month or hour to access the internet on the move."
Bryan Glick, Editor, Computing, commented:
"More and more people are keen to be able to surf the web or communicate with the office on the move, and as a result mobile technology is one of the fastest-growing areas in IT. The future of technology is in secure, wireless, mobile, go-anywhere computers and anything that helps people achieve that is a step in the right direction."
The free service, delivered by network provider The Cloud will roll-out across McDonald's estate by the end of the year.
Owen Geddes, Director of Business Development at The Cloud commented: "It's great to see McDonald's taking such a visionary stance and bringing WiFi to the mass market in this way. McDonald's free WiFi service will deliver a high quality out of home broadband experience, which represents a significant step forward for UK consumers on the move. We're looking forward to developing further WiFi propositions and activities with McDonald's in the future."
Notes to editors:
• There are currently 11,477 WiFi hotspots in the UK*. Including McDonald's new free WiFi hotspots, the total is 12,669
* (Source: Informa cited in Ofcom 'The Communications Market', August 2007)
• McDonald's accounts for about 10 per cent of the total WiFi hotspots in the UK
• The Cloud is the largest provider of WiFi hotspots in the UK with 63% of the UK total followed by BT Openzone, then T-Mobile*
* (Source: Informa cited in Ofcom 'The Communications Market: Broadband, April2007)
• Costs for using WiFi hotspots vary - the table below gives an indication of these costs:
| Outlet | Provider | Cost for 60 minutes | Cost per year based on 60mins per week |
| McDonald's | The Cloud | Free | Free |
| Starbucks | T-Mobile HotSpot | £5 | £260 |
• In February 2007, 21% of adults owned a WiFi-enabled laptop. Over one in three of those (34%) had used it to access the internet via a WiFi hotspot, and one in ten use hotspots weekly*
* (Source: Ofcom 'The Communications Market: Broadband', April 2007)
• The fifteen UK cities with the greatest number of WiFi hotspots are
- London
- Manchester
- Nottingham
- Birmingham
- Edinburgh
- Liverpool
- Bristol
- Leeds
- Glasgow
- Exeter
- Cardiff
- Leicester
- Cambridge
- Oxford
- Newcastle
(Source: The Cloud, September 2007)
