AT&T LaptopConnect customers that are on the operator's $59.99 per month or higher data plans will now get access to more than 17,000 WiFi hot spots for free. The carrier announced that LaptopConnect customers will automatically receive a pop-up message alerting them to WiFi availability when they are in range of an AT&T hotspot. Subscribers just have to download the latest version of the AT&T Communications manager software to their laptop to start getting the alerts.

When customers are not in a hot spot area, they will continue to connect via the AT&T HSPA and EDGE network.

For more:
- See this press release

Related stories:
Starbucks ditches T-Mobile's WiFi for AT&T's. See this AT&T story.
AT&T's HSUPA deployment is nearly complete. See this AT&T story.