Yes. On Verizon, you don't get charged with the NEW plans (tiered data). AT&T probably charges you. T-Mobile may or may not charge you, depending on plan. I think Sprint still charges.
Unless it's disabled by the manufacturer or carrier, Android has built-in tethering capabilities. I doubt they've taken that out in ICS or Jelly Bean (the two latest OS releases).
I use it all the time on my 1.5 year old Android phone.
**BRENT**
Zu Essence (being discontinued) on sale for $1999.9999 (trailing of course). Think these started at $5K. Anyone heard them?
http://www.zuaudio.com/essence-loudspeaker.php#essence-loudspeaker.php