Data Apartheid: Carriers cave in to unified phone and tethering data

Vodafone in the UK is the latest carrier to admit defeat in its attempts to differentiate between data used on a phone and data used for tethering. 3, another UK carrier, led the way with its “all you can eat” data plans, including tethering, which are still the most attractive. Vodafone has said that it will allow smartphone owners to use the phone’s data allowance on tethered devices. Up to now tethering data has been charged extra even when sufficient credit remained on the phone plan. This rare display of common sense brings us nearer to a time when we need have only one mobile data package for all our devices. Other carriers are looking at ways of providing linked SIMs for, say, iPhone and iPad, where one contract would cover everything.