AT&T casts doubt on 2009 iPhone tethering rollout

In response to a report that incorrectly quoted AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega as having promised tethering support for the iPhone by the end of this year, a company spokesperson has cast doubt onto the prospect of tethering in 2009. 9to5Mac, citing Cnet—the source of the disputed quote—wrote in a story that AT&T had promised tethering support by the end of 2009. It soon received an email from an AT&T spokesperson requesting a correction, and saying, “[j]ust reading again – where did anyone promise tethering by EOY?  Where did you see that?  We promised MMS by end of summer and ended up being a few days late for that.” As iLounge reported last week, an AT&T spokesperson recently told the Wall Street Journal that “additional fine tuning” to its networks would be required to ensure “the best possible customer experience” for iPhone tethering.