AT&T wireless chief: iPhone to get laptop tethering, at last

Frustrated that you can't use your iPhone 3G as a broadband modem through AT&T? Looks like that's about to change, although there's still no exact details on when, or for how much.

Although Steve Jobs hinted back in August that the iPhone 3G might get a laptop-tethering plan on AT&T (carriers overseas already offer tethering plans), both Apple and AT&T—on the record, at least—have been silent on the subject.

Until now, that is. According to Technologizer, AT&T Mobility President and CEO Ralph De La Vega just told a reporter that an iPhone 3G tethering plan is coming … "soon."

De La Vega didn't go into any further details about how soon he means by "soon," or how much iPhone 3G tethering might cost per month.

An existing (non-iPhone) AT&T "PDA Personal" data bundle for laptop tethering costs $60 a month, or $10 more than the same plan (which includes 5GB of data a month and unlimited messaging) minus the tethering option.

The iPhone 3G's data plan (which doesn't include text messages) costs $30 a month—so, assuming the $10-a-month add-on charge holds, we might be looking at $40 a month for iPhone tethering. That's just a guess, though.

OK, but why the hold up, given that plenty of other AT&T 3G smartphones (not to mention some overseas iPhone 3G carriers) already allow for laptop tethering? Nothing official on that, although given the problems AT&T suffered with spotty iPhone 3G reception over the summer, the carrier may have taken the time to shore up its HSDPA network. (Again, just speculation on my part.)

So, who out there's interested in laptop tethering for their iPhone 3Gs? And how much would you be willing to pay?

Related:
AT&T: Tethering Coming to the iPhone Soon [Technologizer]
Apple yanks iPhone 3G tethering utility from App Store [Yahoo! Tech]