AT&T might charge customers extra for using iOS’s FaceTime over 3G/4G

For the longest time FaceTime was WiFi-only — you could only use FaceTime on your iPhone if you were connected to a WiFi network. Starting in iOS 6, Apple has officially enabled FaceTime over 3G/4G. Now, however, AT&T may be a roadblock.

As reported by MacRumors, any AT&T customer trying to activate FaceTime over cellular data (3G/4G) will be prompted with a message saying the customer should contact AT&T to enable FaceTime over cellular. This is the same type of message users are prompted with trying to enable tethering in iOS, leading to speculation that AT&T will charge customers extra for using FaceTime over 3G/4G or somehow restrict FaceTime usage over 3G/4G.

Interestingly enough, Verizon customers are not prompted with the same message when trying to activate FaceTime over Verizon’s 3G.

AT&T has come out and issued a coy statement stating they are working with Apple on iOS 6 and will let customers know as more information is available:

“We’re working closely with Apple on the new developer build of iOS 6 and we’ll share more information with our customers as it becomes available.”

I don’t know about anyone else, but to me this is a bunch of bullocks. The pay-extra-for-tethering pill is hard enough to swallow; now this? Looks like more reason to either jailbreak your iDevice, use a FaceTime alternative, or ditch iOS/AT&T altogether. Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

[via MacRumors]

Related Posts