

"Official" IPhone tethering from AT&T at $55/month - osipov
http://appmodo.com/1432/apple-iphone-mms-delayed-coming-sept-tethering-55-extra/

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TJensen
So according to <http://www.facebook.com/ATT?v=app_7146470109>, tethering will
not be $55 additional per month. I've not seen an official announcement from
AT&T (I don't consider appmodo to be "official" and they don't link to
anything).

Anybody have an official link?

~~~
tlrobinson
The tone doesn't "sound" very official, but isn't this the official AT&T
Facebook page?

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Oompa
Fuck AT&T.

~~~
dkokelley
I normally wouldn't upvote a comment like this, but I think it concisely
illustrates what everyone who reads this submission must feel.

Why can't AT&T et all get it? I would gladly pay on a per GB basis if it was
offered on a comparable rate as the 'unlimited' plans. Those plans usually cap
you at 5GB to prevent 'abuse' to the network, so you get 5GB for $40/month-
ish, or or $8/GB. Is there anyone who wouldn't be willing to pay for a _real_
unlimited plan where this was the rate?

(I'm not sure if any companies are offering such rates. Please let me know if
they do.)

~~~
jamesbritt
"Why can't AT&T et all get it?"

They do. They've hooked up with Apple.

I don't know a single person who has anything nice to say about AT&T, what
with illegal spying, crappy service, poor pricing, and what not. Yet when it
comes to the iPhone, everyone's swooning and all sins are forgiven.

~~~
dkokelley
'et all' refers to the other players in cellular service, so the question
restated is "Why can't AT&T and other providers get it?"

I do agree with what you say about AT&T's sins being 'forgiven' by offering
the iPhone, but that is a function of a market monopoly. I have an iPhone and
I use it on AT&T. Coverage is decent in my area including 3G, and I don't mind
the price. That said, if Apple offered the phone through multiple carriers
then the consumers would be in a better spot because they could choose which
carrier to sign with.

~~~
jamesbritt
' ... so the question restated is "Why can't AT&T and other providers get
it?"'

Some do. I'm quite happy with T-mobile. No interference (so far) about the G1
tethering app (Proxoid). Really good customer service.

"I do agree with what you say about AT&T's sins being 'forgiven' by offering
the iPhone, but that is a function of a market monopoly. "

The weird thing is, I don't think I've heard any iPhone users express any
misgivings about using AT&T. The interest in the phone is overwhelming. Yet
users have a choice: pick a different phone.

AT&T has a "phone I really REALLY have the hots for" monopoly, not a
smartphone monopoly. People shouldn't support a questionable service provider
and then gripe about how they behave just because the available market choices
are not quite as they would prefer.

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TrevorJ
This is an example of why Ma Bell was broken up in the first place. The
monopoly they have on the hardware is clearly being abused by them and the
consumer pays the price. I pay this price for phone, data AND Tethering on my
Treo with another carrier. The only Reason AT&T can do this is they have the
whole market for iphones.

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gamache
Up until now, I did not have a reason to jailbreak my iPhone. Now I have an
excuse to l33t up. Thanks, AT&T!

~~~
silencio
Jailbreak isn't necessary for unofficial tethering. There's iPhone mobile
configuration profiles floating around to enable that in 3.x. Of course, you
do run the risk of AT&T charging you for tethering without a plan.

Sigh, I despise AT&T :(

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tptacek
What does "unofficial" iPhone tethering, a la the one-click carrier file
change at TechCrunch, cost?

Whatever they want it to.

I'd be careful.

~~~
PStamatiou
that and it killed visual voicemail for me

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byteCoder
If this is true, my hope is that Apple takes this lack of good faith from AT&T
as a good reason to not renew exclusivity after the contract ends sometime
next year (2010).

Of course, it's also very likely that Apple and AT&T are playing US iPhone
users as pawns in their negotiations. I personally witnessed Scott Forstall
clearly playing the audience to boo AT&T at WWDC.

~~~
gamache
I can't imagine any other reaction at WWDC, considering that several very
shiny new features were available basically everywhere but the US thanks to Ma
Bell.

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pcc
Welcome to Canada ;)

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epall
This makes me so glad I have an iPhone 2G on T-Mobile. I have unlimited calls
to five people, unlimited weekends, 300 minutes, 400 messages, unlimited data,
and unlimited tethering thanks to PDANet. What do I pay? $41/month TOTAL
including taxes and fees. Thanks T-Mobile and iPhoneDevTeam!

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jrockway
Is this even unlimited? I have AT&T with a non-iPhone, and they want $40/month
for 5G of tethering. Paying the extra $40 removes the "unlimited" limit on
non-tethering, too.

Needless to say, I tether without paying them extra and will be dropping AT&T
very soon.

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icey
Hmmm. It costs me $175 bucks to break my contract with AT&T. That's basically
3 months of data tethering fees.

I guess I may be returning to T-Mobile sooner than I'd originally thought.
(Assuming this is true and not total speculation).

~~~
jrockway
T-Mobile's tethering is no cheaper. I want unlimited tethering, but I don't
see any US carrier that will provide me with that service. (Sprint will in one
city that has "4G", but I don't live there, so ...)

~~~
jamesbritt
I have an unlimited data plan with T-mobile for my G1, and a free teething
app. Maybe I've not tried downloading enough, but I'm unaware of any limit.
How would T-mobile even know I was tethering?

