ATT CEO: iPhone Tethering On the Way

by , 8:20 AM EST, November 7th, 2008

AT&T customers will have an officially sanctioned way to use their iPhone as a wireless modem with their laptop soon. The promise came from AT&T CEO Ralph De La Vega during the Web 2.0 Summit on Thursday, according to Technologizer.

While an official launch date wasn't announced, Mr. De La Vega said that his company has been working with Apple on iPhone tethering, and than a solution will be available soon.

Tethering, or using your cell phone as a wireless modem with your laptop, is a feature that hasn't been officially supported with the iPhone yet. One tethering application was briefly available at Apple's App Store, but was pulled after some customers had already purchased it. A tethering option is also available for iPhone owners that "jailbreak" their handheld so they can install applications that Apple hasn't approved.

Mr. De La Vega didn't say how much AT&T's tethering package will cost iPhone owners, but odds are subscribers will have to pay for the service as an add-on feature.