Perhaps Apple has heard the prayers of those of us with Mac laptops and iPhones who wonder why on earth we can't use our phones to connect to get online when we're out and about. It really feels like the missing part of the Apple laptop/mobile offering.
iPhone 3G: a big steaming pile of 'needs to be a modem'. Photograph: James Cridland/Flickr/Some rights reserved
The assumption would be that with these unlimited data tariffs, operators (invariably the baddies in the mobile phone industry pantomime) don't want to encourage us to sap up any more of the network.
Rumours summed up on MacBlogz in the US, however, this could all change as Om Malik writes on GigaOm; customers could pay an extra $10 per month to use their iPhone as a 3G modem. Because iPhone subscribers don't pay enough for each month already...
MacBlogs claims AT&T were looking at a $30 price point and cut it to $10 apparently to make the service more appealing to Apple - who would have to allow it and would want it enabled through iTunes. It could roll out in the US as early as this Spring.
In the US, where the 3G network is far less established, this will turn iPhones into "Ferraris with flat tyres", says Malik. There are already overload problems on the network and, because of the legacy telecoms infrastructure, that just can't support faster network speeds.
In the UK, the situation is slightly better and the 3G network is far more established. But you can bet your bottom quid that if this did materialise in the UK, we'd pay a pretty sum for the privilege, and far more than the $10 equivalent. Still, we can but hope.
