Free wireless in Gustav-battered areas
Last Updated: Monday, September 1, 2008 | 2:56 PM ET
CBC News
With Hurricane Gustav whipping Louisiana and the U.S. Gulf Coast states Monday morning, scurrying residents received an odd blight-related benefit: free wireless internet.
The U.S. cellphone company T-Mobile announced it would open its WiFi networks free of charge to everyone in the areas most affected by Gustav, so that people can stay in contact.
T-Mobile's so-called WiFi hotspots, which provide internet access at locations like Starbucks cafés, Borders bookstores, airports and hotels, are normally available only to subscribers.
But the company announced it was making its wireless service available to anyone at hotspots in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast regions of Texas. The service can be accessed with a laptop or other WiFi-enabled device, such as an iPhone.
The company didn't say how many retail outlets it expected to remain open in Gustav-battered areas. The Category 2 hurricane was lashing coastal areas of Mississippi and Louisiana with sustained winds of 170 kilometres an hour Monday afternoon.
A half-dozen Starbucks outlets in those regions did not answer their phones Monday, though they might have been closed for the Labour Day holiday.
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