McDonald’s is to become the UK’s biggest provider of free wireless internet access when it rolls out the service to all 1,200 of its restaurants from December.

Pay-as-you-go WiFi has been available in 500 of the fast food giant’s outlets since 2004, but the new service, which uses The Cloud’s network, will be available free of charge.

“Looking at the number of customers that paid WiFi brought in encouraged us to move to a free model,” said McDonald’s vice president of information services Ivan Brooks.

More than one in five UK adults own a wireless-enabled laptop. But the full potential of the technology is untapped because people either do not understand how to use it or find it too expensive to use on public networks, said Brooks.

“Our target is business people on the move or young adults using the internet for recreational use and seeing McDonald’s as a cost-effective place to stop,” he said.

The firm is also investigating wireless handheld order-taking systems. And WiFi access for staff gives the option of either personal use or job training via the company intranet, said Brooks.

The McDonald’s launch comes days after BT’s announcement of plans to offer its broadband customers free access to 190,000 wireless hotspots worldwide. The free-of-charge model is crucial for WiFi to take off, said Butler Group senior research analyst Mark Blowers.

“WiFi will become a commodity or part of a service offering such as in hotel rooms or restaurants,” said Blowers.

But quality of service will remain an issue unless a free service is supported by an alternative income stream, said Gartner analyst Mark Raskino.

"Providers will offer the minimum level for free,” he said.