Verizon to Support FaceTime over Cellular on iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and New iPad

mrmcbee said:
Single device users CAN'T sign up for a mobile share plan without purchasing a second device. So if I want to use FaceTime on an non-jailbroken iPhone, I have to switch providers. I can't even pay more for that feature without getting something I don't even remotely need. Smart move AT&T.
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Acting like a new customer on their website, I was able to create an order adding one device to a share plan. So this statement is probably untrue. Though I still can't move my current plan to a data share plan on the website, I'll head to a different store tomorrow.

Idiot salespeople. Why would I have expected better from AT&T?
 
i-John said:
I'd take AT&T official statement release over what a lowly customer service employee says.

Their statement was...

"AT&T will offer FaceTime over Cellular as an added benefit of our new Mobile Share data plans, which were created to meet customers' growing data needs at a great value. With Mobile Share, the more data you use, the more you save. FaceTime will continue to be available over Wi-Fi for all our customers."

Pretty clear, you want FaceTime over Cellular, you need a shared plan, otherwise, you're on WiFi only.
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Let's see how this will work out for me. I have 5 phones on my plan, 4 of which are iPhones, 2 of them unlimited and 2 of the 2GB limited. The other phone is a DUMB phone w/ unlimited internet, which, is hardly used but only cost $10 a month to have...and it's used.....kinda. Also, I receive a 25% discount through work. But that only affects the Data plans and and any amounts over $30 on my bill...except my FAMILY Messaging Unlimited.

So on average my bill is about $255 give our take.....

Now lets see what the SHARED Plan has in store for me. First, I lose my unlimited plan on 2 of my smartphones. So, to me, that's a LOSS...already....Not saving anything...I know, your going to tell me, I get unlimited TALK....but you know what, it's a waste, as I don't use nearly the 1400 minutes I get on my plan now...I have 11000 roll over minutes now......so, it's a waste and is not an added benefit. Also, I already pay for unlimited texting.

I am going to go with the 10GB plan, becuase the 6GB will not be enough for the 4 smartphones. So, that 120$ for the plan and 120 for the 4 ($30 each) smart phones and $30 for the NON-Smart phone (HIGH WAY ROBBERY, this was only 9.99 on the other plans and shared the minutes). That brings my bill to $270 before taxes.

Ok, let's add in taxes....and these are best guesses
Federal Universal Service Charge 5.42
Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge 0.45
State Telecom Excise Surcharge: 5.30
911 service fee 1.20
County Telecom Tax 8.79
Local Wireless 911 surcharge 0.30
NY State Telecome Tax 19.07

grand total of $40.53

Yes, in Fees and Taxes, % based on what I am charged for the primary line on my bill. So, this part is a guesstamate.


Let's add that up....270+41 = 311 a month for service for my 5 phones where I am currently paying $255. That is $56 more a month than I am paying now.

Ok, let's see if I take my 25% off my base bill, that will bring me to 203 + 41 = 244....Yes, it saves me $11 a month, but i lose on my unlimited for 2 smartphones and one non-smart phone.

Ok, they said, they save the more data you use the more you save

1GB + 1 Phone = $85/GB, 2 = $130/GB, add $45 per phone after this
4GB + 1 Phone = $27.5/GB, 2 = 37.5/GB, add $10 per phone after this
6GB + 1 Phone = $20.83/GB, 2 = 26.67/GB, add $5.83 per phone after this
10GB + 1 Phone = $15.00/GB, 2 = 18/GB, add $3 per phone after this
15GB + 1 phone = $12.67/GB, 2 = 14.67/GB, add $2.00 per phone after this
20GB + 1 phone = $11.50/GB, 2 = 13/GB, add $1.5 per phone after this.

So, yes, they are not lying, but to me, this is not worth switching. Only way I am switching is if AT&T forces me out of my grandfathered unlimited data plan.


Ok, done with my rant..
 
sclawis300 said:
I am grandfathered. BOOM! If you don't know don't make it sound like you are speaking fact.
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If you're on Verizon the next time you upgrade your phone (even to iPhone 5) they remove it, so you are for now but not soon if you plan to use this on your iPhone 5.
 
ericinboston said:
Mmmm...okay...but:

1)3G would be terrible for Facetime
2)Only Verizon has LTE in the USA and I don't know what those real-world specs/performance are
3)WIFI is pretty much everywhere...sure, not in the woods, but you're probably not going to have any cell coverage in the woods either. :)


I guess if you need to Facetime while in a moving car or walking down the street this cellular feature/support is for you. But you wouldn't be able to hear anything if you are FTing while walking down a street or in a car with road noise/windows/etc.

I think WIFI is really the best route for FT, still...and is free and/or you are not charged per Byte of usage.
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Umm... AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and dozens of prepaid and local carriers have LTE coverage in the United States.
 
goobot said:
If you're on Verizon the next time you upgrade your phone (even to iPhone 5) they remove it, so you are for now but not soon if you plan to use this on your iPhone 5.
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There are a couple of options that I am exploring to avoid this. I will check back in if they work. Obviously you could just pay full price.
 
Blorzoga said:
Dear AT&T: I have an individual plan, why do I need a shared data plan to use FaceTime over 3G if I have an INDIVIDUAL plan? Who would you suggest that I SHARE my data with, myself?
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my thoughts exactly, and I asked an AT&T rep that very question, they didnt have an answer. :eek:
 
JDiggity82 said:
I contacted AT&T support just now and I asked whether having the Unlimited Data Plan for iPhone 4S would allow me to used FT over cellular. I asked this in many different ways so as to be sure to get a crystal clear understanding. No matter how I asked the question, the representative always replied in the affirmative. According to this person we will NOT need to change our plans to a mobile share plan to support FT over cellular.

If this is the case, then the AT&T comment might have been a slight misstatement, and likely meant "data plan" in general.

Single instance, so take it for what’s its worth.

-J
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After 35 minutes on the phone with an AT&T supervisor who had to contact technical support supervisors twice to get the accurate information, it is confirmed that you will need a mobile share data plan in order to use Facetime over cellular.

This is absolutely ridiculous and after over 15 years of being an AT&T then Cingular then AT&T again customer and dealing with their terrible customer service, overpriced billing and spotty service here in LA, I may just switch to Sprint.
 
many are asking what is the catch that Verizon is allowing Facetime over cellular for the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, and the iPad 3?...

the catch is Verizon eats your first born son

whether or not it's worth it, is up to you
 
kittonian said:
After 35 minutes on the phone with an AT&T supervisor who had to contact technical support supervisors twice to get the accurate information, it is confirmed that you will need a mobile share data plan in order to use Facetime over cellular.
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It really makes no sense to me why they wouldn't allow grandfathered "unlimited" plans to use FaceTime over cellular. You'd think they'd say, "sure, let those 'unlimited' accounts FaceTime all they want over our network until they get to 5 GB and then we're throttling their butts back down to the reality of their 'unlimited' plan."
 
kittonian said:
After 35 minutes on the phone with an AT&T supervisor who had to contact technical support supervisors twice to get the accurate information, it is confirmed that you will need a mobile share data plan in order to use Facetime over cellular.

This is absolutely ridiculous and after over 15 years of being an AT&T then Cingular then AT&T again customer and dealing with their terrible customer service, overpriced billing and spotty service here in LA, I may just switch to Sprint.
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35 min you will never get back. Why wouldn't you just believe the press release?
 
facetime another overrated feature, VZ wins here, but ATT wins with voice+data, again both features are truly overrated.

To me what matters most is SERVICE and being able to actually USE the phone.

The point in buying this phone is fro LTE purposes; a department which att is a huge laggard.
 
ericinboston said:
Mmmm...okay...but:

1)3G would be terrible for Facetime
2)Only Verizon has LTE in the USA and I don't know what those real-world specs/performance are
3)WIFI is pretty much everywhere...sure, not in the woods, but you're probably not going to have any cell coverage in the woods either. :)
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1)I used FT on my jailbroken at$t phone over 3G and it wasn't degraded.
2) at$t has LTE and Sprint does, too, albeit not everywhere yet
3) free wifi doesn't exist everywhere
 
Macboy Pro said:
LOL... Everyone threatens, some leave, and most go back to AT&T after tasting Verizon.
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Moving to Tmobile with an S3 from the iP4 (wife's line, arriving tomorrow). Was planning on moving my personal iP4S to Verizon (company accounts), but am having second thoughts on the report of not being able to use voice/data simultaneously.
 
i-John said:
If you've been using it already, you've been doing it solely over wifi. Nothing is changing for you then. You can still use it over cellular on every US carrier.

You make it sound like FaceTime is the killer app and there is no other options available
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Yes, I do use it now and being able to use it with the data I'm allready paying for when I'm not on WiFi would be super useful to me. And there aren't options that do what I want it to as easily as FaceTime does, so yeah I've evaluated and decide there aren't better options available FOR ME. Again, I know, the idea that people have different needs and different priorities is mind boggling to some, but you'd be surprised at how common it is.
 
Blomkvist said:
Gotta agree with you there....this was a much bigger deal when facetime was first introduced. I'll never use anyway. If I need to videochat, the Skype app works like a charm.
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Exactly.
The Skype app has been doing video chat over 3G since day one (at least it does with my carrier) and it doesn't require that the other person owns an iOS device / a recent Mac.
It's sad because in my experience the video quality on FaceTime is usually better than Skype...
 
sclawis300 said:
35 min you will never get back. Why wouldn't you just believe the press release?
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Oh, I completely believed the press release. I wasn't calling them to ask if it was true or not, I was calling to find out how much more it was going to cost me.

They didn't believe me and spent 35 minutes verifying the claim that you had to have a mobile share plan in order to use Facetime over cellular.

I kept trying to explain time and again that you did but they tried to assure me I was wrong until they found out the truth.
 
If this journalist is right, here's the catch right here (and why I prefer how AT&T tries to convince people to go to shared data plans):

He claims you will have to go to a shared data plan if you want to get the iphone 5 subsidized. WHich I guess is fine for some, but really an outright rip off for others. At least AT&T will let you use your old plan or pick the old style plans (and maybe even let me grandfather my unlimited, that has yet to be seen).

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-att-verizon-iphone-5-20120913,0,7508999.story
 
kittonian said:
Oh, I completely believed the press release. I wasn't calling them to ask if it was true or not, I was calling to find out how much more it was going to cost me.

They didn't believe me and spent 35 minutes verifying the claim that you had to have a mobile share plan in order to use Facetime over cellular.

I kept trying to explain time and again that you did but they tried to assure me I was wrong until they found out the truth.
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I am at a loss for words.
 
tigress666 said:
If this journalist is right, here's the catch right here (and why I prefer how AT&T tries to convince people to go to shared data plans):

He claims you will have to go to a shared data plan if you want to get the iphone 5 subsidized. WHich I guess is fine for some, but really an outright rip off for others. At least AT&T will let you use your old plan or pick the old style plans (and maybe even let me grandfather my unlimited, that has yet to be seen).

http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-att-verizon-iphone-5-20120913,0,7508999.story
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That part I also got "confirmed" if you can call it that. From what I was told AT&T will allow you to keep your unlimited plan exactly as it is and as long as you are eligible you will still receive the subsidized pricing.

Sprint will do voice+data as long as you are on LTE but anything else will not allow that to happen as is the same for Verizon apparently. Too bad as I was going to switch to Sprint, but I'm not losing that feature, especially here in Los Angeles where the cell service is terrible and you're lucky to find 3G service.

UPDATE: UNREAL!!!!! On the front page of MacRumors there is a statement from Sprint saying exactly the opposite of what Sprint tech support just told me. Could customer service and support get any worse these days? - Just to be clear, neither Sprint nor Verizon will support simultaneous voice and data with the iPhone 5. You want that? You have to go with AT&T.
 
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