Verizon: iPhone Personal Hotspot to run $20 monthly

Verizon has revealed that iPhone owners will need to pay an extra fee in order to use the Personal Sharing feature of their handsets. Speaking with Macworld, Brenda Raney, Verizon Wireless’s Executive Director of Corporate Communications, said the feature will cost users an extra $20 per month on top of required voice and data plans, the same cost that applies to current Verizon smartphone owners. Notably, the feature comes with its own 2GB monthly data pool with overages charged at $20/1GB, unlike AT&T’s $20 tethering charge, which uses the data customers have already paid for. Announced at the Verizon iPhone event earlier this month, the Personal Hotspot feature will allow iPhone users to share their 3G connections over Wi-Fi with up to five devices; Verizon Wireless will launch the iPhone 4 on February 10.