AT&T To Support Personal Hotspot Wi-fi Tethering On iPhone 4

US wireless carrier AT&T has said that the company will support the Personal Hotspot feature that will come to iPhone 4 with the new iOS 4.3 in March.

According to an AT&T spokesperson, iPhone 4 customers will be able to turn their devices into their own personal hotspot by subscribing to the company's DataPro plan that comes with a 4GB download cap and a $45 per month fee.

AT&T joins rival Verizon Wireless in offering Wi-Fi tethering to its customers. Wi-Fi tethering, which is termed Personal Hotspot in iOS 4.3, allows customers to turn their device into a Wi-Fi hotspot, capable of supporting up to 5 devices including netbooks and tablet devices.

Apple unveiled the iOS 4.3 during the launch of its iPad 2 tablet device. The new operating system will be available for download on March 11th, when the iPad 2 becomes available for purchase.

The company revealed that consumers can subscribe to the new tethering data plan through AT&T's website, Walmart, BestBuy, Fry's and some Nexcom outlets.

David Christopher, chief marketing officer of AT&T Mobility & Consumer Markets, said in a statement, “Tablets offer the convenience of mobile broadband virtually anywhere and our new billing options give customers the flexibility to choose how they prefer to be billed.”