O2 has partnered with Costa coffee shops to offer free wi-fi to its customers, as the mobile network operator looks to expand its broadband services. The news follows a similar deal between the mobile operator and McDonalds last month.
Gavin Franks, managing director of O2 Wi-Fi said: “We are hugely excited to partner with Costa. Coffee shops are seen as the traditional heartland for public access wifi and Costa is the largest coffee chain in the UK.”
“We have shown how our innovative models works in new contexts such as London Metro wifi and this deal shows that it also works in more traditional contexts. It shows that people and businesses want fast, reliable wifi that’s easy to use and free no matter who you are.” he added.
The Wi-Fi is free for Costa customers regardless of whether they are an O2 customer or not. Users only need to sign up once for regular use at Costa and O2’s other Wi-Fi hotspots, of which an additional 3,000 are being deployed across the country.
O2 is currently extending its mobile services beyond Wi-Fi. It recently launched O2 Wallet, a service for making payments with a smartphone.