Quite recently, a number of Android users in the United States have noticed that free tethering apps have been missing from the Android Market. It has been the buzz lately on some tech blogs and forums that Android smartphone owners have been having trouble finding and downloading free wireless tethering software.
It appears that those who were reporting this problem are mainly subscribers of Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile USA. Well, most customers are not so happy with the so-called app blockage. Meanwhile, concerned network carriers either refused to validate their statement or maintain that they are not responsible for such action.
Speaking on Google’s side, a representative has clarified that Google is not altogether taking out free tethering apps from the Android Market but instead they are just making the apps unavailable for download in response to some wireless carrier’s call to block the apps. Said Google spokesman also mentioned that Google’s regulatory power takes place upon a carrier’s request if a particular app in the market is found to have violated the terms and conditions of a usage contract and from there, they can implement said carrier-specific blocks. This way, the app remains as available for download in the market but may not be visible for certain carriers’ subscribers.
While it may appear that the app is blocked in some subscribers’ Android smartphone, this does not prevent them from installing the app since there are other ways (aside from the official Android Market) of accessing and installing applications that may be available for the users. More advanced Android users are aware of how to make these “manual” mode of side installations with or without the need of a rooted phone.
Apparently, AT&T has been very vocal about their stand against tethering. In fact, the carrier has been reported to have been monitoring their subscribers’ tethering activities as part of its crack down operation. In some instance, said company has already sent out e-mails to those they found to have used their smartphone’s tethering capability, thereby suggesting that they subscribe to any of AT&T’s data plans otherwise they will be charged with an additional fee for tethering usage.
AT&T’s tethering plan starts at $15 per month for 200MB of data, Verizon has its $20 per month with a data cap of 2GB and T-Mobile USA offers $15 per month for 5GB data plan.
To date, PdaNet, EasyTether, Klink, AndroidTether and FreeTethering are among the most popular tethering apps that can be downloaded from the Android Market.
Have you had a tethering app blocked on your network? Let us know.
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