AT&T Rains On Apple iPhone Users' Parade

While carriers in other countries are doing their part to enable these features for customers, exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier AT&T won't offer them to customers when Apple launches new iPhone hardware and software later this month.

The revelation that tethering and multimedia messaging service (MMS) won't be part of the June 19 iPhone 3G S launch was greeted with boos and derisive chuckles from WWDC attendees, many of whom appear to be growing frustrated with the iPhone exclusivity that AT&T has enjoyed since the iPhone's launch in 2007.

AT&T's apparent foot-dragging means that customers won't be able to take advantage of tethering, which lets users share the device's cellular connection with their computer in areas where Wi-Fi isn't available. They also won't be able to send messages with images, audio, and video. Considering that Apple just brought video to the iPhone, that's akin to giving a kid a brand new electronic toy without including the batteries.

All of this is happening because AT&T isn't one of the 22 carriers in 42 countries that have agreed to support iPhone tethering, and the carrier isn't expected to support MMS until later this summer, Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, told audience members at WWDC.

Mobile device users have been clamoring for tethering for quite some time, but carriers are wary of the bandwidth burden that tethering represents. Apple doesn't allow tethering applications on its App Store and has been quick to pull ones that cropped up there.

AT&T, in published reports, says it'll support MMS on the iPhone 3G S in late summer after upgrading its system to ensure the best possible user experience. AT&T also says a tethering plan is in the works but isn't talking about what it will entail.

Given the possibility that Apple might allow Verizon to offer a CDMA version of the iPhone sometime next year, one would think AT&T would want to give iPhone 3G S customers all the features that Apple intended for the device. By not doing so, AT&T simply looks like a villain in the eyes of the Apple faithful.