WWDC has revealed all sorts of interesting tidbits today, including Apple’s plan for bringing official tethering support to the iPhone. While the technical aspect of it has been known for a while, it wasn’t until recently that Apple revealed tethering would become a possibility on iPhone OS 3.0, and now AT&T themselves have confirmed the functionality will be available as an option for their customers in due course.

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This is why I hate AT&T so much. When I had a bb, tethering on tmobile US was already available at no cost. I'm already paying $30/month for my iphone 3G, why would i spend more $ for tethering (when a lot of things can be viewed on the safari on the iphone anyways - missing flash, and a few other things, etc)

Well, O2 have now published their tethering deals.

http://shop.o2.co.uk/update/internet.html

15quid for 3 gig usage is the same as any other 3g mobile broadband provider but you dont already have to have a 35quid a month tarrif with them. 30quid for 10gig is again typical.

What is being ignored here is the extra money spent on the original phone and the contract - the bolt-on is overpriced. i wont be using it.

Interesting. I was hoping to see tethering introduced, but not sure if I'd be willing to pay for it separately. I, primarily, need it when we go on vacation and stay in a hotel or rent a house without free wireless. Since vacations, by default, don't happen too often, paying constantly for access is not really cost-effective.

Must say, however, that from the point of view of the telecom provider, it is completely justified to charge more for tethering. It will undoubtedly generate more traffic. Just judging by my wife's usage, she still prefers to write her e-mails on a computer rather than on the iPhone and to view Internet on a bigger screen. So now instead of waiting to get home to reply to e-mails and check the news or do some research or shopping on the net she would just fire up her laptop on the road.

Don't know. Telecom market is fiercely competitive and the margins they make on average are very slim. I would expect that they price these optional services at a premium but primarily to cover below cost pricing on basic stuff. Kind of like printers - it cost me less to buy a new Epson printer than to change a cartridge in my old Canon.

Ha! Old news. I'm currently posting this from a netbook with a tethered iPhone. Big deal.