Dave Overton

Well AT&T has caused another revolt with their recent announcement to change their data plan and tethering options, or at least a revolt amongst heavy users. However, they have stated that the majority of users would be best served by the new categories; as well as released more detailed data on usage.

I am not an AT&T subscriber (luckily for the sake of the people that I call). I live in another country. Pertinent to this post, I live in a country where tethering is an option that was not just announced but that already works. I agree that the unlimited usage might be overkill for *most* users, however I think tethering could change that. I know for certain that a lot of business travelers would gladly tether their iPhones to laptops while on the road. Personally, I prefer not to tether, but have used it often when out of reach of WiFi or when I really cannot accomplish something with just my iPhone. With that said, I do prefer the charging scheme that my provider gives: time based charging. I can opt to pay a flat fee for a period of time browsing. This is very similar to the likes of WiFi hotspots throughout the world in places like airports. I think it is the most suitable type of charge for a tethering options, because honestly I think keeping track of the MB's used is difficult.  AT&T has created options for keeping track of this which is a definite plus, however, just like cell phone minutes, I think data minutes are more effective and easier to track.