Read our verdict on the new iPhone 3G S here
O2 has announced that it is to charge users of new Apple’s iPhone models announced yesterday at least £14.68 per month on top of the monthly subscription if they want to use it as a modem to connect their laptops to the internet, a process known as internet tethering. Using the internet from the iPhone itself, via both 3G and wi-fi, is included in the normal monthly subscription.
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Tethering is one of the key features that has been missing from the iPhone until now. However, the new iPhone 3G S models announced at yesterday’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose and which will be available in the UK through Apple’s exclusive network partner O2 from June 19, will allow tethering. Users of existing 3G iPhones will also be to download an upgrade to their operating system software from the same date, giving them access to that feature as well as other new ones such as cut and paste and picture messaging.
However, O2 has revealed that using tethering will not be included in the normal unlimited data that comes with standard pay monthly packages. Instead, you will have to buy a bolt-on monthly package costing £14.68 per month for 3 gigabytes of data and £29.36 per month for 10 gigabytes. Additional data used through tethering will cost 19.6p per megabyte. If you want to use internet tethering overseas, you will have to pay £2.94 per megabyte in the EU and £6 per megabyte everywhere else.
Tethering is widely available on other smartphones used by business travellers while on the road and is a popular alternative to using a so-called dongle, which plugs into a USB port.
The new 3G S iPhone comes in 16GB and 32GB variants. The 16GB model is free on an 18-month £73.41 per month contract with O2 or £184.98 on an 18-month £29.38 contract. The 32GB model is free on a 24-month £73.41 per month contract or £274.23 on an 18-month £29.38 contract.