AT&T today reiterated its plans to offer tethering on the iPhone, but again gave no date when that might happen -- more than a year after the carrier first said tethering would be coming "soon."
Asked just when that would be, a spokesman said in an e-mail: "We plan to offer tethering on the iPhone but have not announced a date."
[ Looking for business-class iPhone apps? Start with InfoWorld's free, interactive iPhone app finder. It separates the wheat from the chaff and makes it easier to find iPhone apps for business and IT users. | Discover the key Mac and Apple tech trends for business users. Read InfoWorld's Technology: Mac newsletter. ]
The issue of when tethering would come to the iPhone has been on the minds of users and bloggers who aren't afraid to post critical online comments. Industry luminary Harry McCracken posted a comment Friday noting that Nov. 6 marked the anniversary of when AT&T Mobility President Ralph De La Vega told an audience at the Web 2.0 Summit that tethering to iPhone was coming "soon."
He noted that de la Vega had also blogged about the coming tethering, "whipping up excitement for tethering," and then pointed out that AT&T found later it needed to upgrade networks to be ready to support iPhone tethering.
The anniversary of the delay comes as Verizon Wireless has begun a drumbeat in TV ads attacking AT&T for a smaller 3G network than Verizon's. AT&T on Nov. 3 filed a lawsuit attacking the ads as misleading .
Verizon also launched the Motorola Droid on Android 2.0 on Friday, noting that -- among other features -- users can use the Droid for tethering. That's one of several functions the Droid can do that the iPhone cannot.
Analyst Jack Gold, of J. Gold Associates, said today that the long delay in iPhone tethering and questions about AT&T's network generally should persuade AT&T to reconsider the whole issue. "If I were AT&T at this point, I'd delay the iPhone tethering as long as possible,"Gold said. "If they allow tethering to iPhones, the users are going to be downloading videos and adding network demands."
Gold and other analysts said the interest in tethering is probably "less than 5 percent of the iPhone base" and might not really be a major revenue potential for AT&T, even if it charges $30 a month, as it does for BlackBerry tethering.
Perhaps AT&T could offer a discounted deal with an AT&T broadband card for the laptops of iPhone owners just to renew customer loyalty after the long delay, Gold added.
This whitepaper explains the terminology and concepts behind Data Replication technologies and establishes some sizing rules through worked examples. Learn the new paradigm in disaster tolerance—protect data anywhere.
Download now »
Server virtualization is a popular option for dealing with mounting datacenter costs. Another equally promising approach is the use of an Application Delivery Controller. Citrix NetScaler provides a low-cost way for organizations to reduce their server count and accrue cost savings from a reduction in space, cooling, power and personnel.
Download now »
The emergence of WLANs has created a new breed of security threats to enterprise networks.
Included in HP ProCurve WLAN solutions is security technology that alleviates threats from WLANs through:
* Monitoring wireless activity inside and out of the enterprise
* Classifying WLAN transmissions into harmful and harmless
* Preventing transmissions that pose a security threat to the enterprise network
* Locating participating devices for physical remediation
Effectively address data protection challenges, implementing solutions that help store and protect business–critical data while cutting costs and improving efficiency and reliability.
Download now »I have been tethering since 1999, from the Nokia 8210 to the E71 now, starting with CSD and now HSDPA. I don't think the telco knows that I am tethering. But of course in 1999 the only data use was tethering as there were no applications on the phone at that time.
I think AT&T and US mobile are rather backward.
Whenever there is no wifi and I am away from my desk and need to use the computer I tether. Very convenient. There's no sense having two subscriptions and carrying two radios all the time.
Sign up to receive InfoWorld Resource Alerts
16 Recommendations
Don't get too excited. For a Blackberry on ATT, tethering costs an extra $10 per month and your transfer limit goes from unlimited to 5GB per month.
What a deal.