Apple, AT&T prepping iPhone tethering plan?

An irate user fires off an e-mail to Steve Jobs, complaining that it was "ludicrous" that AT&T didn't offer a laptop tethering plan for the iPhone. And then, Steve wrote back.

Or at least, that's what one iPhone user told Gizmodo, which reprinted Jobs' characteristically brief (if unverified) reply:

We agree, and are discussing it with ATT.

Steve

Sent from my iPhone

Cool story—if it's true. We only have the word of a single Gizmodo reader to go by, although Jobs has been known to fire off replies to users before.

In any case, I completely agree with our annoyed e-mail writer: It is ludicrous that AT&T doesn't offer a tethering plan for the iPhone.

As the Gizmodo reader points out in his e-mail to Jobs, AT&T has a $60/month data plan for most of its 3G phones that includes phone-to-laptop tethering, good for on-the-go laptop Net access.

So why no tethering plan for the iPhone 3G? Good question, especially given that carriers in other countries offer iPhone tethering plans.

One workaround was NetShare, an app that let you share your iPhone's data connection with your laptop via Wi-Fi. Users said the app worked just fine, but third-party data-sharing apps like NetShare violate AT&T's terms of service, and Apple quickly pulled the program off the App Store.

I'm hopeful that Apple and AT&T are, in fact, working on an official iPhone tethering plan—there's clearly demand for one, and if Apple truly wants to set up the iPhone as a viable competitor to BlackBerry, then laptop tethering is a must-have feature.

Would you subscribe to an iPhone tethering plan were one available? And how much would you pay for the privilege?

Related:
Rumor: Apple and AT&T Developing iPhone Tethering Plan [Gizmodo]