Next time you go to McDonald's in Japan, don't forget your laptop! 

McDonald's Company (Japan) has signed an agreement with Internet investor Softbank Corp. to install a high-speed Web service in 3,900 of its fast-food restaurants across the country. 

For a minimal monthly fee of $12.43, customers can use their laptops or other mobile devices to surf the Web while enjoying their Big Mac and fries.

McDonald's COO Yasuyuki Yagi told Reuters that the fast-food chain may also allow diners to pay for meals and other merchandise via the mobile Net. 

For Softbank, the deal is key to its aggressive strategy, initiated by its president Masayoshi Son, to transform the company from an Internet investor into a high-speed Internet service provider, Reuters reported. 

A report in the evening edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business newspaper said Softbank would begin testing the wireless service at McDonald's restaurants in Tokyo as early as this month, before gradually expanding it to other locations.

For more information: http://www.mcdonalds.com
(Additional source Reuters)