No, the iPhone still won’t tether
Apple said months ago that it was coming soon, iPhone users still want it in a big way, and AT&T is dragging their feet whenever someone mentions it. Just what is “it?” Tethering for the iPhone, of course.
It is, of course, AT&T that would have to implement tethering for the iPhone, and they are more than a little reluctant to do so. With their network already being pushed over the limit by iPhone Internet usage, their feeling apparently is that iPhone users would go for tethering in a big way, making life even more difficult on their network, according to a HotHardware story. AT&T has said the following:
We understand that there is great interest in tethering but cannot provide any details at this time. We know that iPhone users love their devices and mobile broadband, and that they’re likely to embrace tethering just as they have other features and apps – by using it a lot. iPhone tethering has the potential to exponentially increase traffic, and we need to ensure that we’re able to deliver excellent performance for the feature – over and above the increases in data traffic we’re already seeing – before we will offer the feature.
Obviously, you can tether the iPhone if you just jailbreak and unlock it, but that is not something that all that many people are willing to do, given that it can void the handset warranty and may open the phone up to easier hacking and installation of malware. Users just want what they want out of their mobile devices, regardless of the problems it causes, and that is understandable. Users seem to be saying, “Other phones will tether, it is certainly technically feasible, so why won’t my iPhone do it?”
They have a point. One has to wonder if the iPhone would be tetherable if it was on the Verizon wireless network. The odds are, it seems, that it probably would be, although equally probably for an extra charge. If the complaints about iPhone tethering are any indication, people might actually pay extra to get it as a feature, which make one wonder why AT&T could not see that.
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