Verizon Following AT&T Yet Again, This Time on “Illegal” Tethering
From Verizon Stops Illegal Tethering, Follows AT&T – Mobiledia – The Mobile Future – Forbes.
Verizon today began blocking customers from tethering their data through jailbroken apps, following in AT&T’s footsteps as the company fights to stay on top of the U.S. wireless market.
The Basking Ridge, N.J.-based carrier now requires users have a hotspot-capable data plan if they want to tether data from their smartphones to other devices. Users who try to tether through jailbreak apps like MyWi will be redirected to a Verizon webpage where they can upgrade to a capable plan for an additional $20 a month.
Well that didn’t take long. The minute one of Ma Bell’s children does something anti-consumer like raising prices on unbundled SMS or eliminate unlimited data plans, the other is surely to follow. And AT&T wonders why people are so against their proposed merger with T-Mobile? And unlike what I said before, I’m definitely against the AT&T/T-Mobile merger now.
So let me get this straight. We can’t do unlimited data anymore. Even those who have it on a grandfathered basis on AT&T are gonna get throttled if they are in the top 5% of users. I’m waiting for Verizon to start pulling the same crap sooner or later.
And, to make matters worse, if we allow some other device to use that data via tethering, we have to pay more for the privilege? Sounds a bit like the old Ma Bell practice of charging you monthly for the privilege of having another phone jack in your house.
At least the old Ma Bell guaranteed universal service (meaning, you could get phone service anywhere). Not only can we not get service everywhere with these jokers, we pay out the nose for the privilege. Sounds like the worst of both worlds to me.
