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AT&T announced today that it is planning to allow any customer "with an LTE device" on a "tiered data plan" to use iOS 6's FaceTime over Cellular feature. Previously, only customers with a Mobile Share plan could use the feature.
AT&T today announced it will enable FaceTime over Cellular at no extra charge for iOS 6 customers with an LTE device on any tiered data plan. AT&T will also continue to offer FaceTime over Cellular to customers with any AT&T Mobile Share plan, as well as FaceTime over Wi-Fi, which has always been available for all customers. AT&T expects to roll out this functionality to customers over the next eight to ten weeks.

As part of its commitment to serving customers with disabilities, AT&T is also making FaceTime over Cellular available to deaf and hard of hearing customers who qualify for special text and data-only packages.
In practice, the change only affects iPhone 5 and iPad with LTE customers with tiered, though not unlimited, data plans. The company plans to roll out the functionality over the next 8 to 10 weeks.

Jim Cicconi, AT&T's head of External and Legislative Affairs, wrote a blog post explaining AT&T's thoughts on FaceTime. He notes that there was no way for the company's engineers to model usage and network impact and, as a result, the company was conservative in how it was rolled out.
In this instance, with the FaceTime app already preloaded on tens of millions of AT&T customers' iPhones, there was no way for our engineers to effectively model usage, and thus to assess network impact. It is for this reason that we took a more cautious approach toward the app. To do otherwise might have risked an adverse impact on the services our customers expect - voice quality in particular - if usage of FaceTime exceeded expectations. And this is important for all our customers regardless of which smartphone they may use.

Article Link: AT&T Expands FaceTime Over Cellular Access to More Customers
 

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
8 to 10 weeks? How long does it take to remove a restriction? And why does the LTE device restriction exist? Still, glad to see AT&T showing some sense.
 

GQB

macrumors 65816
Sep 26, 2007
1,196
109
Don't give me wireless FaceTime, give me G*d D*mn LTE coverage!!!
 

milan03

macrumors 6502
Jul 16, 2002
440
13
New York City
Wait... what?! AT&T is deciding if I an use Apple's FaceTime app that comes preloaded on the iPhone? Only if on a tiered plan? How's this news?

Am I crazy or this piece of news begs for thrashing?
 

cmwhitley

macrumors newbie
Mar 27, 2008
12
0
Whatever, AT&T. Try as you may to force me out of my unlimited data plan; you can have it when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
 

powaking

macrumors 6502
Jul 3, 2008
466
181
My guess is they want to see who on the Unlimited plan will jump ship and just get a tiered plan instead.
 

Sir Gibler

macrumors newbie
Nov 8, 2012
1
0
In practice, the change only affects iPhone 5 customers with tiered, though not unlimited, data plans.

This isn't true. It also applies to LTE iPads.

Edit: you guys fixed it.
 

Allenbf

macrumors 6502
Jul 7, 2012
351
0
Elsewhere, USA
Makes me glad I'm with VZ, but they do charge more, so...

Still, never had issues with them. I feel for you folks on ATT, from what I read, it must be irritating.
 

Amory

macrumors newbie
Aug 15, 2009
28
0
Sacramento, CA
As part of its commitment to serving customers with disabilities, AT&T is also making FaceTime over Cellular available to deaf and hard of hearing customers who qualify for special text and data-only packages.

I might hate AT&T but this is a good call.
 

bbeagle

macrumors 68040
Oct 19, 2010
3,539
2,972
Buffalo, NY
AT&T still doesn't get it. It's our data, and we should get to choose how we use it.

They get it. They're trying to save money.

Offer someone an all-you-can-eat buffet for $10. Or an ounce of food for $2 each.

Offer spaghetti, hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, steak and lobster.

Don't let the all-you-can-eaters choose steak or lobster.

That's what they're doing.
 

ProudLoz

macrumors regular
Aug 26, 2012
240
0
I'm not eligible since I have unlimited data, but I don't really give a damn since I hardly use Facetime. I don't understand why only tiered data plan users can use it, since regardless of what I use with my unlimited data plan, I'll end up getting throttled.
 

jayducharme

macrumors 601
Jun 22, 2006
4,517
5,936
The thick of it
Naturally, no help for those of us on the old unlimited plan. AT&T keeps dangling carrots to get everyone off of unlimited (even though it's technically not true unlimited). And of course, if we leave unlimited and begin using Facetime, we'll probably exceed our monthly data allotment. It's great for AT&T. It's not so great for customers.
 

jasonsewell

macrumors newbie
Apr 27, 2010
28
16
23226
"AT&T will also continue to offer FaceTime ... over Wi-Fi, which has always been available for all customers."

This is how you can tell AT&T are ********s. They have absolutely nothing to do with FaceTime over Wi-Fi.
 
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