Daniel Eran Dilger
Apple added the Personal Hotspot feature in iOS 4.2.6, a build that only runs on the Verizon iPhone 4. It takes advantage of a feature Verizon has long offered that enables multiple WiFi clients to share a phone's mobile 3G connection.
AT&T hasn't committed to supporting the new feature yet, but is expected to in the face of the competitive threat issued by Verizon. Other carriers can choose whether they will support the OS feature.
The individual reporting AT&T's acquiescence in provisioning the feature on his phone running the developer build says the carrier agreed "after I mentioned Verizon a few times."
AT&T similarly balked for months before finally supporting the MMS and Bluetooth tethering features Apple added to iOS 3.0, but could hold up support for those features because it lacked any direct competition in the US. Personal Hotspot is Wi-Fi tethering.
Activating the feature is subject to additional fees. Verizon charges an extra $20 per month for WiFi tethering, and AT&T is expected to offer similar plans
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50 Comments
The benefits of competition!
10 bucks for 4 gigs a month seems fair enough. I'd never use it though.
the carrier agreed "after I mentioned Verizon a few times."
Love how free markets work these little inconsistencies out all on their own. Didn't need anyone to mandate these features for everyone. I believe we're going to see a lot of good things come about due to this broadening in carrier availability.
Love how free markets work these little inconsistencies out all on their own. Didn't need anyone to mandate these features for everyone.
No, the only thing someone has to mandate is competition. Of course, the competition between wireless carriers probably got here without government intervention, though at some point in the past AT&T did have a monopoly and was broken up, not in the wireless world but in the wired one.
Old news. If your iPhone could tether before and you had the beta it worked. I've been doing it with the increased cap for a week now.