Eat And Surf : Pret A Manger Now Offers Really Free Wi-Fi

Written by
Desire Athow

15 December, 2008

Posh Ready to eat/Cafe Chain Prêt A Manger has announced that it has rolled out Wi-Fi in 60 of its 130 UK Chains with the rest expected to follow in the next few days before Christmas.

The announcement comes after more than eight month of successful trials in Guildford, Reading and Berkeley Square Locations and is done in partnership with Wi-Fi provider The Cloud, with which it has signed a five year deal.

The whole roll out is expected to cost Prêt A Manger £52000 initially with an annual cost of only £160,000.

The service will be available for any customer who literally comes in their premises. You do not have to buy something to get free WiFi and you don't even need a password (ed: isn't that a bit dangerous?)

This compares favourably with the likes of Starbucks and Caffè Nero which charge their customers up to £5 per hour for wireless broadband usage in their cafés.

Simon Kerry, head of IT for Pret A Manger said that "We are delighted to be able to offer WiFi as a free service to our customers. Everything we do at Pret is about delighting our customers; whether it's freshly made sandwiches, 'Just Roasted' coffee, or great customer service".

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Our Comments

Free, no strings attached, WiFi from a high street café chain is something we welcome. It is a calculated move that will cost Prêt less than £800,000 over the next five years and it is likely to attract more first time customers to its premises. Hopefully though, let's hope that the scheme is not disrupted by hackers or virtual joyriders and leechers.

Eat And Surf : Pret A Manger Now Offers Really Free Wi-Fi

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