McDonald's diners gorge on free bytes

McDonald's has 750,000 UK customers logging on to the internet in its restaurants after introducing free high-speed wireless connections, according to figures from the company. The customers are downloading more emails than they're eating hamburgers, according to new figures from the company. Since introducing free Wi-Fi connections (after registration) in its 1,200 UK restaurants in 2007 it says customers are downloading 500 gigabytes (GB) of data a day, equivalent to 6m emails – 10 times more customers than when the scheme was introduced, and double the number of a year ago. The Starbucks chain made a similar move at the beginning of October in a partnership with BT's Openzone. In January the O2 mobile network also announced a similar move in which it would partner a number of food and drink outlets to encourage use. More and more hospitality retailers are using Wi-Fi as the latest attraction to win customers with smartphones and laptops who want to work on the move. Mark Fabes, director of IT at McDonald's UK, said: "Demand for Wi-Fi in our restaurants is growing at an incredible pace, to the extent it is now one of our most popular side-orders." The company suggested that a growing number of business people are now taking advantage of the service to stop at its restaurants. Paul Weaver, an Essex businessman who founded the company Action Learning, said: "My colleague and I use the Wi-Fi service at my local McDonald's in Basildon at least three times a week. "Not only is the location a great 'in the middle' meeting place for us but you don't have to register or pay for the Wi-Fi, which is a great bonus when many places now charge. We can use the Wi-Fi to show colleagues and clients what we do and enjoy a cup of coffee at the same time." McDonald's is also aiming to introduce contactless payment systems by the end of 2012 as part of a five-year £300m refurbishment programme.