Let's try this again: Free AT&T Wi-Fi for the iPhone (really)!

Yeah, I know—it's hard to believe, but after months of false starts, posted and yanked Web pages, and mixed messages from AT&T HQ, it looks like free Wi-Fi for the iPhone (plus the upcoming BlackBerry Bold) is finally upon us. Really.

Macworld (among many other news outlets) is reporting that AT&T wireless hotspots—including those at Starbucks—are again offering free Wi-Fi for iPhone users, and that this time (according to an AT&T PR rep), it's here to stay.

Even better, Phone Scoop adds that the upcoming BlackBerry Bold will also get free AT&T Wi-Fi access; BlackBerry Pearl and 8820 will have to wait until "later this year."

The will-we-or-won't-we-get-free-Wi-Fi game began back in May, when AT&T accidentally posted its free iPhone Wi-Fi offer on the Web. iPhone users flocked to Starbucks, where they indeed got free wireless access—for a few days, that is, until AT&T turned off the spigot.

Two months later, the free Wi-Fi offer appeared on the Web again—a publishing goof, as it turned out, but that didn't stop bloggers from posting a flurry of stories before AT&T (again) retracted the offer.

So, want to give AT&T's free wireless a try? Macworld has a series of instructions for logging on at your local Starbucks; in a nutshell, just select "attwifi" from the list of available Wi-Fi networks and enter your iPhone's phone number at the Web prompt.

Well, that's the plan as of this morning, anyway. Stay tuned to see if AT&T's Wi-Fi offer is still valid tomorrow ... or the next day ...

Related:
AT&T offers free Wi-Fi access to iPhones, for real [Macworld]