Torn Up About Tethering

An activist group called FreePress has complained to the FCC about Verizon Wireless's crackdown on tethering apps.

Image: Handout

Wireless carrier Verizon may be trying to stop customers from using their data plans to surf the Internet from their laptops—but never fear, where there are nerds, there is always a solution.

An activist group called FreePress has complained to the Federal Communications Commission, alleging the country’s largest wireless carrier has asked Google to remove so-called "tethering apps" from its Android market.

Tethering allows customers to use their mobile phone like a portable modem for their laptop, allowing them to surf the Web via their smartphone's data plan. Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T have all introduced extra fees for tethering your iPhone or Android, but some apps will enable it for free.

One of the most popular is PDANet, offered at a once-only fee of $24, which now apparently enables you to mask your tethering use. While Android users can just install the app and tether up, iPhone users are required to jailbreak the phone first, a move that will void the warranty.

Although Google has made tethering apps unavailable on some AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile phones, it’s still possible to download them using WiFi or by accepting software from outside the official Android market.

FreePress says blocking the apps violates FCC rules—but whether the Commission will investigate further remains to be seen.

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