Computerworld - AT&T Inc. is offering free wireless access to iPhone owners at several thousand of its public hot spots, including those it recently acquired in a deal with the high-end coffee shop chain Starbucks, users in the U.S. reported today.

Fueled by an initial report on MacRumors.com that described the free hot spot access, numerous users on Apple Inc.'s own iPhone support forum related their experiences at Starbucks, which boasts wireless at more then 7,000 of its U.S. stores.

According to the reports, iPhone owners are presented with a specially formatted page when they launch the Safari browser. The form asks them to enter their iPhone phone number. Once the number is verified, users can browse using the hot spot rather than the much slower EDGE-based data network that AT&T also operates.

Computerworld confirmed the free iPhone Wi-Fi at a Starbucks location in Eugene, Ore., this morning.

Details about the wireless access, however, are sketchy, as AT&T refused to comment. It is unknown, for example, if Wi-Fi access is unlimited or available at all of AT&T's 71,000 hot spots, which include those at bookseller Barnes & Noble and throughout the McDonald's fast food chain.

In mid-February, Starbucks announced that it was dropping T-Mobile USA as its in-store wireless provider and had instead made a deal with AT&T. At the time, Starbucks said the service would give two hours of free access a day to the coffee company's cardholders, while AT&T broadband users would have unlimited use. There was no mention of the iPhone in February.

AT&T is Apple's exclusive iPhone network partner in the U.S.

Some users and bloggers today also speculated that because AT&T asks iPhone users to enter their telephone number, it may not offer free access to people who have hacked their iPhones to make calls on other mobile service providers. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel would not confirm or deny that such was the case, saying only that the iPhone is intended to be used on AT&T's network.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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