Topics: Mobile

AT&T CEO: iPhone To Get Tethering App 'Soon'

Posted by Eric Zeman, Nov 6, 2008 01:59 PM

Using a 3G-enabled smartphone to serve as the wireless modem between the network and a laptop should be offered by every carrier and every smartphone. Alas, only a handful of phones can do this. According to AT&T's CEO, the iPhone will soon be one of them.

That's the answer straight from the horse's mouth. At the Web 2.0 Summit, AT&T Mobility President and CEO Ralph De La Vega responded to a question on whether or not AT&T was ever going to offer a tethering service for the iPhone. De La Vega told the reporter, TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, that AT&T already is working on it with Apple, and the service will be available soon.

He didn't offer any more details about how the service might work.

If you remember, there was an iPhone tethering application offered through the iPhone Apps Store temporarily. Apple pulled the app, called NetShare, once it figured out what the application really did. NetShare has since been made available to those who choose to jailbreak and unlock their iPhones, but the service violates AT&T's Terms of Service.

This is great news, but I have some doubts. The Novatel wireless modem that I use for my laptop (with service provided by Verizon Wireless) has never failed me. My iPhone fails to connect to AT&T's network all the time. I would love to be able to consolidate my wireless accounts and reduce my monthly bills, but I don't know if I can trust the iPhone to be my primary source of wireless Internet service.

Would you?

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