Anyone on Rogers who has been enjoying free tethering with a data plan 1 GB or over may be in for a rude shock come May 3rd. Apparently Rogers is “examining options that are in line with how customers use tethering on their devices”, so don’t be surprised if all of a sudden you’ll need to pay out another $15-$30 for the luxury of mobile internet access via smartphone. All the carriers have a wide variety of internet sticks that are purpose-built for mobile broadband, and (more importantly) have separate plans. While it’s awfully convenient for end-users to be able to use the same plan for both regular smartphone data and mobile internet for a laptop or netbook, Rogers stands to make more by either pinging occasional users for an extra fee on their cellular bill, or push an additional plan, device, and contract for heavy-duty users. If either of these added charges turns off subscribers from tethering at all, Rogers benefits from fewer data junkies clogging up their network – win-win-win. In these instances, applications like Tether provide a viable (if sneaky) workaround for those who still want some mobile internet and have a desire to stick it to The Man.
[via Globe and Mail]