O2 Threatens To Disconnect iPhone 3G S Rogue Tetherers

Telefonica owned O2 has responded harshly to the rumour that iPhone users could be trying to bypass the network operators setup to use the Apple smartphone as a free modem.

A small application called Mobileconfigs from a German website called Benm. Unfortunately, the file was nowhere to be seen as the link available on most websites redirects to the same page over and over again (ed : could be a sign that there's legal troubles ahead).

The file helps to change the profile of your local carrier through a few steps and Engadget has confirmed that it works with T-Mobile Netherlands and O2 UK. However, it may disable MMS and visual voicemail for some reason but most iPhone users will be able to live with that.

But O2 told Techradar that they will ban any user who try to modify their iPhones and convert it to a modem without purchasing the £15 Internet Tethering Bolt on. More specifically, they added that "Any use of this particular feature without the purchase of the Bolt on is specifically prohibited under our terms of service."

How O2 will be able to find out whether data is coming from the iPhone itself or from a laptop remains to be seen but it is likely that it will rely on cues pertaining to how data is downloaded by the user.

Although O2 says that you can have unlimited internet on your phone, this is far from the reality as this is conditional to fair usage and a long list of terms and conditions which includes no streaming, P2P, voice over IP and internet tethering.

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