AT&T Is Gonna Get Big Strife In Charging For FaceTime Over Cellular

Posted on September 18, 2012 by AppleBitch


Following on from reports that AT&T could possibly apply a surcharge for users who want to make FaceTime calls over a cellular connection, the organizations Free Press, Public Knowledge and the New American Open Technology Institute have now come forward to say that the will be making an official complaint to the Federal Communications Commission (via GigaOM). The complaint will apparently allege that by charging extra for users to FaceTime over a cellular connection, the carrier will violate net neutrality rules.

Apple recently announced during their showcase of iOS 6 at the launch of the iPhone 5, that with the release of the new mobile operating system, FaceTime would now be available to use over a cellular connection. Previously, this had only been possible by jailbreaking an iOS device and applying a patch. However, in August, AT&T suggested that it could charge for FaceTime by using a piss poor excuse that FCC net neutrality rules “do not regulate the availability to customers of applications that are preloaded on phones”.

The organizations listed above seem differently to AT&T and are therefore stating their intent to file a complaint with the FCC. The Free Press organization suggests that blocking such applications on mobile devices is prohibited under net neutrality rules. The complaint is obviously well timed with the release of iOS 6 and subsequent enabling of FaceTime over cellular connections set to take place tomorrow. It’s not clear what the consequences of such a complaint will be, but it’s likely that an FCC investigation of the complaint will have to take place.

As such, and obviously depending on the outcome of the complaint, AT&T may feel the wrath of more than just angry consumers over this issue.

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  • lucascott

    Unfortunately AT&T is likely correct in their stance that the quoted rules don’t apply. They don’t offer a video calling service therefore there is nothing for them to be in conflict over. So these complaints could fall if they stick to these rules.
    It’s a pity really because I do agree with the gist of the notion that carriers etc shouldn’t be allowed to set standards and rules based in certain uses of the system. If AT&T wants to drop grandfathered unlimited plans, fine. Drop them. If they want to make folks turn on this service so they can get the person on record saying they get it that this will jack up overages and they can’t whine about their bill fine. Seems fair. But this ‘you can only do X if you are on this certain olan’ business didn’t sit well with me when it was over tethering and doesn’t now. And anyone that wants to yell over the notion that data is data etc has my support.