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By Jim DalrympleJune 19, 2009, 12:07 pm PT
iPhone enthusiast site Appmodo on Friday quoted “a source” at AT&T, saying that iPhone tethering would cost users an extra $55 a month. AT&T says the rumor is false.
AT&T used its Facebook page to squash the rumors and left no doubt that the claims were untrue.
“There are a lot of reports out there, but wanted you guys to know that rumors of $55 tethering plan on top of an unlimited data plan are false,” says the AT&T statement. “We’ll have more news to share when the iPhone tethering option is closer to launch.”
Unfortunately, we still don’t know when the launch will be. AT&T said previously that it would be sometime in the future.
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I hope the reason it’s false is not that it’s actually $59.
(Actually, I’m Canadian, so it isn’t like I *really* care. The wails of those affected might even be entertaining.)
Whew! Thank $DEITY they clarified. I thought they might announce it in the past and I would have missed it
(p.s. love the new site!)
it’s probably not 55 on top of a data plan — but it might be $55 for a data plan that includes tethering ($30 data plan + $25)
I know this is a tired question, but isn’t $30 a month per phone enough already? What is the value of this data plan actually worth when you can’t download anything over 10 Megabytes over 3G (youtube videos presently excepted). Now I need to pay more to tether because I might want to browse the net on a bigger screen (or check email etc.)?
I really think AT&T needs to make a strong case as to why the existing data plan rate is not sufficient for tethering, especially considering their weak 3G last year at launch. I just can’t see how they can justify raising the cost.
We think that ATT should not go on strike. Their men and women work very hard for us.
Or…heaven forbid…you might want to tether to a laptop so you could access a web site that uses FLASH for the buttons to navigate it?
If it were that high I’d probably get a Verizon Mifi just to spite them.
But since when has AT&T been reasonable ?
The source Appmodo actually posted an update
“**UPDATE: June 19 1:50PM PSD: Reports across the web are misinterpreting the original pricing for tethering. The data plan with tethering would be around $55 per month, NOT $70 or an additional $55 per month on top of existing data plans. Thanks.”
seems things were misinterpreted from some other site that reported theirs
$55 was way off. Its $49.95…sheesh!
I suspect that it will be $59.99 for a data plan that includes tethering. That would be $30 iPhone data plan plus $29.99 so the “denial” could still be true. There had been an earlier rumor that it would be $79 for a tethering data plan.
It would seem logical that AT&T plans to charge something pretty close to their current charges for a laptop card plan.
Tethering, which is currently available on the iPhone (albeit against ATT policy), is currently being charged by AT&T.
Just spoke to a representative, the charge is currently $.01 for every 1KB data tethered. Talk about running up a bill!!! Careful all of you iPhone tethering lovers!
Jason, the AT&T representative, told me that they expect to have a tethering package available to the public in mid-October. I personally think $30 on top of the $30 data plan is entirely unreasonable!!! Hopefully AT&T will not rape us and offer tethering for under $15.
I know it was free with blackberry’s data plan (sprint)
I think you can tether now with the $g model thats coming soon
pending they fix the antenna issue lol