iPhone ‘tethering’ on its way in US

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AT&T has revealed that it is working with Apple to enable iPhone subscribers to hook up their phones to laptops and use them as data modems - an action known as 'tethering.'

The news was revealed by AT&T chief executive Ralph De La Vega speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Vega said his company would have a sanctioned tethering solution available "soon" for iPhone users.

Tethering is a feature that has been requested by iPhone users since the launch of the handset, and calls for the feature were renewed with the launch of the faster iPhone 3G.

A third-party that enabled this feature called ‘Netshare’ was available on the Apple App Store briefly in August this earlier this year, but was removed by Apple without warning after a few days. The program maker Nullriver later revealed on its website that Apple would not allow any tethering applications in the App Store due to it violating terms of service.

However, iPhone users that ‘jailbreak’ their phones have access to a range of unsanctioned programs that can provide tethering functionality.

At the time of writing O2 has not responded to our request for comment about whether it would be offering a similar solution to AT&T for UK iPhone owners.

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