AT&T is worried about tethered iPhone to Laptop Internet Access

I just read an article written by an AT&T employee about the companies thoughts and potential plans for allowing iPhone to tether to a laptop thus providing it with an internet connection.

Apparently AT&T does not have enough faith in their 3G network. As unstable as it has been in the past they are afraid that if millions of iPhone users started connecting to the internet through their iPhone on their laptop, their network would suffer drastically. Apparently people like me who are willing to pay $50 for an unlimited bandwidth USB card for my laptop are ok. From what I have been reading, they are extremely scared of the legalities that could be involved with offering a service they are not sure they can handle.

Here is the info I have been able to find so far. To be honest I am not really surprised that the service will look like this. I may just end up activating a new iPhone so I can jailbreak it and tether my phone with no additional costs.

• 5GB Data Cap (just like Blackberry users) – AT&T will automatically turn off your tethering connection if you use too much bandwidth. Of note, the 5GB cap might get sliced for all users, not just iPhone users, in order to accommodate all new tethering plan customers (bandwidth demand).
• Initial connection through iTunes? (not sure if this is every time you connect, or just for initial setup)
• Expected speeds: GPRS: 30k – dialup speeds / EDGE: 110k – ISDN speeds / 3G: 1000k – slow broadband.
• You’ll want to disable auto-updates for everything, so as to not go over usage limitations.
• Will be +$30/month, new iPhone plans may be rolled out with tethering rolled in.
• Do not pro-rate tethering/bandwidth, it can become a nightmare, instead wait until new billing cycle.
• For unlimited bandwidth, AT&T will tell you to get a wireless PC card.
• No idea on a launch date.

Have any thoughts or news on the topic of tethering your phone to your laptop for an internet connection?