Hmmm. I've been tethering my CU500V since I got it well over a year ago and it always works wherever I go. I'm not paying $30 a month extra to do it, either, and I get 3G speeds in a lot of outback places that aren't even announced as "live" yet.
Maybe its the iPhone that is the problem? Naw, Apple would never market something that underperforms it's ad hype.