Interestingly, today at a car club meet I met a guy who is a network equipment installer contracting for Cricket. I'm taking this with a grain of salt, but he told me that EVDO internet (and very likely tethering...i asked specifically) is coming to Cricket within one to two months. He said he's seen the EVDO switches sitting around ready to be used.
I hope he's right. If cricket can give me data...i'll pay whatever they want.