The carrier declined to spell out a timetable for the move, however.

"We are working on bringing it to the iPhone," an AT&T spokesman said by e-mail. "[But we have] nothing else to share at this time."

The move is a counter to rival Verizon, which will let iPhone owners use their smartphone to create a personal Wi-Fi hotspot, which can connect up to five other devices, including tablets and notebooks, to the Internet.

Verizon will provide its tethering for $20 per month, which includes a 2GB data allowance. Each additional gigabyte of data, or a fraction of one, runs another $20 under Verizon's service plan.

Verizon described the Wi-Fi hotspot feature last month when it announced it would sell a .