Warning: This answer applies to Cingular (Orange), and is not expert advice, but my experience and what I learned from my battle with Cingular (who I do not consider my enemy - just sparring partner).
I have been dealing with this question in other threads, but as far as I can tell, the answer is "maybe."
Now for a more useful (hopefully) answer... I was told there was an extra $20 charge for unlimited use of the WAP.cingular APN, then I discovered there was a 5MB limit on this plan, and finally I was told that Cingular does not have a WAP APN and they only use blackberry.net APN for non-BES customers.
Here is what I know (I think) and how I know it:
You must have some sort ot WAP plan for teathering to work. There are two MediaNet plans plus MediaNet pay-as-you-go, which apparently use WAP.cingular. Your Cingular Browser and BB UNL plan uses the blackberry.net APN, but this is not enough for teathering to work.
I know this because my account was originally provisioned with MediaNet and I teathered with no problem. I had it removed because I was racking up heavy overages reported on my account online and the rep told me that it was provisioned wrong because MediaNet is unnecessary with BB UNL. He "fixed" it. Teathering stopped working. I called to have the wap.cingular reinstated, but they told me that that does not exist, I can't get it, and a bunch of other apparent lies. They went so far as to get a RIM rep on the phone to "confirm" that Cingular does not offer a "public" WAP service like some other carriers. I finally insisted that they put the MediaNet "unlimited" plan on my account (an later found out it was not unlimited). They argued with me about the necessity and insisted that I would be paying $20 extra per month for nothing. Of course, teathering started working again immediately!
Now, what remains to be seen is if I am charged for use over the 5MB limit. They noted my problems on the account and ensured me that I could call to have any overages removed since I am on the BB UNL plan. In other words, I just spent a lot of time not answering your question. Sorry.
Please, someone correct me if I am wrong.
Cingular does not understand the word UNLIMITED and they often refer to it as "unlimted internet and email," which it is not. It is only unlimited apparently if you use the blackberry.net APN for Internet browsing using the Cingular browser. This does not allow truly unlimited use of the Internet connectivity features of the Blackberry device.
A bit off topic, but may be helpful to some: There are three browsers available on the 8700c:
Internet Browser: Available via public APN
Cingular Browser: Availabe to all with Cingular BB plans
Blackberry Browser: Internet use for BES users
The reason I discovered all of this through Cingular BB customer support is that originally my Internet Browser worked (see my saga above). I was stupid for calling and not leaving well enough alone. Then after all was said and done, only my Cingular Browser works (but teathering works, too). I suspected that MediaNet, Internet Browser and teathering used the WAP.cingular APN, so I put this in my TCP settings. I find it strange that my Internet browser worked before, but not now. There must be another peice to the puzzle.