To tie in with Barnes and Noble's increasing emphasis on eBooks, AT&T announced today that Wi-Fi connections at any of the 777 United States Barnes and Noble bookstores will be free for anyone to use. Previously, only AT&T subscribers had free access to the network.

Last week, Barnes and Noble launched a Web-based eBook store and free eReader apps for the iPhone/iPod Touch, BlackBerry, and Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS 10.1+. The bookseller is gearing up for the launch of its own eBook reader, made by Plastic Logic which will compete with the market-leading Amazon Kindle.


"This is a natural progression of our digital strategy to provide customers with more choices in how, when and where they want to read," said Barnes and Noble CEO Steve Riggio.

According to today's announcement from AT&T, free Wi-Fi access is available in every Barnes and Noble in the U.S., and will be unlimited.