AT&T Hot for HotSpots

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What else is a multi-national telco to do with $275 million laying around in cash? AT&T is using it to buy up Irving, TX-based, WayPort, and pick up another 3,000 WiFi hotspots around the United States.

This brings AT&T's domestic total of Internet watering holes to 20,000 around the country and 80,000 worldwide.

Meantime, here's another word to add to your vocabulary if you haven't already;

Tethering

Tethering means attaching your wireless mobile device to a PC, Laptop or PDA and using it for WiFI access to the Internet. Everything old is new again. In other words, this is using a phone as modem hookup of sorts to dial up the Internet.

By the way, AT&T also announced this week it will soon allow customers to use their iPhone 3G's for tethering in places where there's no other WiFi connection available.

Can't find a hotspot? Tired of paying for hotspot time? Tethering could be a good solution. Just keep an eye on what it's doing to your battery time.

Have a great weeked. We'll get back to business on Monday.

Renee Oricchio

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987.