Verizon Will Charge iPhone Users $20 a Month for Mobile Hotspot Service

Verizon's version of the iPhone 4 will have a feature not available to those with AT&T's version of Apple's smartphone: it will be able to share its cellular-wireless data connection with other computers. This won't be free, though.

This carrier already offers devices running Google's Android OS with built-in mobile hotspot software, but those who want this feature have to pay an additional $20 a month. The same is going to be true of the iPhone.

The extra cost is to pay for the additional data used by laptops and desktops who are accessing the Internet through the smartphone's wireless connection.

Hotspot software turns a phone into a portable router that can share its cellular connection to the Internet with a number of other devices, as long as they have Wi-Fi. 

An All-Verizon Solution
Yesterday, Verizon announced that early adopters of its version of the iPhone will be able to get a $30 unlimited data plan. Those in this group could pay $50 a month and use Verizon as their only Internet service provider for both their phone and any laptops and/or PCs, thanks to the smartphone's hotspot software.

However, at some point in the future, this carrier will be switching to tied data plans, in which customers pay for limited amounts of data each month. AT&T has already made this switch. 

Verizon is going to introduce its version of the iPhone 4 on Feb. 10.

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