[AusNOG] 'X' carrier tethering on iPhone v3.0

[Alastair Watts]

On Fri, 2009-06-19 at 11:55 +0930, Mark Newton wrote:

> Someone in the office here made the observation that it's easy to see
> why AT&T/EDGE wants to charge extra in the US, it's because they've  
> offered
> unlimited data with their iPhone plans and used the fact that it's
> too inconvenient to utilize billions of gigabytes per month on a  
> handheld
> device as a self-limiting mechanism.
> 
> Tethering changes the gameplan there quite a bit, in that the self- 
> limiting
> mechanism goes away when you're using the same network on a laptop.
> 
> But you're right about Australia:  With carriers charging for data,
> they ought to be encouraging customers to find as many ways as  
> possible to
> use it.  More usage = more money.

Optus include a certain amount of data free with their iPhone plans,
which with any other handset (and plan) you would have to pay for. While
they define how much data you're entitled to (eg 3GB with their iPhone
Timeless plan for business) and therefore limit their exposure, I
imagine that when they included it free they were making the same
assumptions as pointed out about AT&T above.

With any other phone and a plan on Optus, data is on top of the plan
amount, eg $9.95/month for 200 MB and so on. It appears to me that Optus
charging for tethering is in keeping with their practises for every
other phone that you can tether with.


Al