McDonald’s today announced that it is going to be providing completely free WiFi Internet access to all of its 14,000 U.S. based restaurants, with about more than 11,000 locations offering the service by the end of January 2010.

McDonald’s CIO David Grooms said today that the company has been listening to customer wants, which highly demanded free WiFi service. He also said that with the proliferation of WiFi devices, it is now the right time to offer the service free of charge.

McDonald’s already offered paid WiFi service for the last five years. AT&T will continue to power the service, but neither company would confirm any terms or financial details on the partnership.

The move will surely force other firms such as Starbucks to lower their prices for Internet usage – or even also provide the service free of charge as well. Starbucks currently charges $3.99 for two-hours of access.