Looking to keep up with Verizon, it appears to be only a matter of time before AT&T offers wi-fi hotspot functionality for iPhone owners
When Apple COO Tim Cook and Verizon’s Dan Mead officially announced the CDMA iPhone 4, one of the more pleasant surprises was that Verizon iPhone 4 owners would be able to use their device to create a wi-fi hotspot with support for up to 5 devices. A cool feature, to be sure, but one caveat is that because Verizon’s CDMA network can’t support concurrent voice and data, when a Verizon iPhone 4 receives a call, all connected devices will immediately be booted off line.
Following the arrival of the long-awaited CDMA iPhone, AT&T has been upping the ante in its efforts to prevent subscribers from jumping ship and signing up with Verizon. A few weeks ago, for example, AT&T began offering unlimited data plans to select iPhone subscribers to better compete with Verizon’s $29/month unlimited plan. More recently, AT&T last week offered all of its iPhone customers free 1000 bonus rollover minutes.
And keeping the ball rolling, now comes news suggesting that it’s only a matter of time before AT&T offers users wi-fi hotspot functionality as well. AT&T reportedly acquiesced to the demands of one developer looking to take advantage of the feature on a developer build of iOS 4.3, which is expected to drop sometime in the next week or two. AppleInsider, who spoke with the developer, said that AT&T relented after the developer “mentioned Verizon a few times.” With AT&T now approving iPhone mobile hotspot functionality in limited circumstances, (note that many developers with the iOS 4.3 beta have observed that the feature already works) it stands to reason that Ma Bell will make the feature available to all iPhone 4 owners once iOS 4.3 is released to the masses.
AT&T famously took its time before implementing support for MMS and data tethering, features that carriers worldwide supported months before AT&T finally came around. With Verizon now a bonafide option for US owners, AT&T is less likely to drag its feet when it comes to wi-fi hotspot support. Or at least one would hope.
The mobile hotspot feature for the iPhone 4 costs an extra $20/month and gives users an extra 2GB of data. One would assume that AT&T’s own wi-fi plan will be priced similarly. As it stands now, AT&T offers iPhone tethering to a single device for an additional $20/month, though that plan doesn’t come with additional data.
