Funny how the more Android enables features, like tethering and such, the more time it takes for the carriers to find ways to cripple them. Rest assured, this and their custom bloatware launcher and apps are the only reasons it takes that long to release them to masses.
Carriers like these, and stupid phone manufacturers, are the ones giving Android a bad fragmentation rep. in it's vanilla form Android is a perfect OS. I still prefer it to some closed alternatives, because it offers so much customization.
Even funnier is how only a few days after they have worked so hard to cripple their phones, some dev dude working alone can crack it and release it into the wild in just a few days. Instead of investing all that money into building roadblocks, they should invest it in revamping their hardware line and start listening to the customers' feedback. Is it that hard to slap a BIG battery together with a top-of -the-line screen, 2 GB RAM and release it in our hands?