Tethering Apps Restored to Android Market, Still Banned in the U.S.

After removing all apps from Android Market that would allow users to use their phones as modems, Google has brought these apps back…but not to the U.S. In a statement to one such developer, Google said:

“We inadvertently unpublished your application for all mobile providers; if you like, we can restore your app so that all Android Market users outside the T-Mobile US network will have access to your application.”

News of Google pulling these apps broke just a week after T-Mobile launched its webConnect USB Laptop Stick, its first 3G mobile broadband solution for notebooks. Understandably, T-Mobile’s U.S. network doesn’t want competition from myriad app developers. In fact, when we asked a T-Mobile rep about tethering, he described the webConnect as an “easy-to-use and effective alternative to tethering of handsets.” T-Mobile came short of admitting that’s why it pulled these apps from the U.S. market, however. The statement tersely chalked it up to maintaining an optimal user experience:

“We reserve the right to take action to protect the overall experience for each of our customers on our network. This may in some instances include restricting applications if they may harm the user experience, the network or our device environment