Business

Google Wi-Fi at Starbux

Google unseated AT&T as the supplier of free Wi-Fi service at Starbucks coffee shops, moving the Web giant deeper into the business of connecting people to the Internet.

The Mountain View, Calif., company partnered with Internet backbone provider Level 3 Communications to equip Starbucks’ more than 7,000 company-owned US locations with service 10 times faster than the existing T1 connections provided by AT&T.

AT&T said it had offered to upgrade its own service to the same speed. Instead, the carrier will supply Starbucks stores with other business services while customers reach the Web through Google and Level 3, an Internet middleman that doesn’t typically sell service on the last mile.

“This is a unique deal, to be sure,” Level 3 spokeswoman Francie Dudrey said.