AT&T just sweetened the pot for all of its iPhone subscribers. If you own an AT&T iPhone, you now get free WiFi access at AT&Ts 17,000 hotspots across the country, including at most Starbucks. Although just last summer AT&T teased customers with the same freebie service, only to put up a pay wall afterwards, this time it looks like the free WiFi is here to stay.

So if you live in a part of the country where AT&T’s 3G data network is spotty, you can now supplement that coverage with AT&T’s WiFi network. It is a nice a bundle. You want to go with the WiFi connection whenever you can get it, regardless.

But why is AT&T doing this? It’s not to seal customer loyalty. The two-year contract does that. Perhaps it is to make up for lapses in its 3G coverage, or simply to take some of the load off the 3G network so that everybody’s mobile Web surfing doesn’t slow down. I really don’t care. What I want to know is why isn’t there an AT&T WiFi Locator app in iTunes?