Thanks for pointing this out, guys. I realize now that the workaround I copied above is for Standard devices only. For Bruce's Pro device, we will probably find the problem in the AT&T GPRS connection settings. Under Start > Settings > Connections tab > Connections, you'll need to make sure that under "Select Networks" MEdia Net is selected as the network for automatically accessing the Internet. If there is no MEdia Net profile, you'll need to create one with the AT&T provided settings. The most important setting here is the WAP access point, which for MEdia Net should be "wap.cingular"
I have tested this on an AT&T Tilt with 6.1, and it works.
[EDIT: Although on the other hand, I wonder what will happen after 24 hours? Will we see the same problem recur when AT&T's WAP proxy kicks us off the network? There is another option under "Select Networks" - it's "AT&T ISP". Perhaps this is the one to use?]