AT&T Ruined Their iPhone Tethering Option Even Before it Launched!

I could rant for hours about AT&T's latest attempt to stifle wireless data usage for its customers. But, let's just look at the numbers from their press release for now: AT&T Announces New Lower-Priced Wireless Data Plans to Make Mobile Internet More Affordable to More People - DataPlus plan: 200MB data per month for $15. AT&T says 65% of their smartphone customers use less than 200MB per month. The other 35% need to move to the higher tier planÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ - DataPro plan: 2GB per month for $25. 98% of customers use less than 2GB per month says AT&T. Each additional 1GB over the limit will cost $10. Using while 5GB used to cost $30 per month, it will now be $55. = Tethering a device to an iPhone or any other AT&T smartphone will be available for $20 per month. Of course, you are limited to 2GB per month so be very careful how you work while tethering. For example, if you download the first episode of BBC America's Survivors pandemic conspiracy TV show (excellent, IMHO), the 2.59GB HD file will use up your entire month's quota and then some. - Access to all 20,000 AT&T Hotspots. This may be the bright spot in AT&T's plan. If you live and work near a lot of their hotspots (Starbucks, for example). This service does not have a service fee. On the other hand, this service is limited to the smartphone itself. So, you can't access the hotspot from a WiFi enabled netbook you are also carrying (unless it has AT&T service too). - iPad 3G users will probably end up the most confused since what was a truly "unlimited" (no 5GB cap) plan will only continue if they continue to pay a $30 per month fee. That may be a worthwhile thing to do. The alternative is to switch to the 2GB capped plan for $25. The end result is that AT&T has rendered their soon-to-be-available iPhone tethering plan useless. And, I expect Verizon to follow AT&T with a similar tiered data plan soon. So, jumping ship may not help.

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AT&T Ruined Their iPhone Tethering Option Even Before it Launched!

Todd Ogasawara

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Todd Ogasawara