AT&T responds regarding FaceTime over cellular restrictions
AT&T has responded to concerns about their new FaceTime Over Cellular policies which will require their customers to be on a mobile share plan in order to utilize the feature. While many believe this restriction violates the FCC's net neutrality laws, AT&T doesn't think it does.
While the FCC does restrict companies from blocking apps, AT&T says that only applies to downloadable apps and not pre-installed apps. Since FaceTime comes pre-installed on every iOS device, they have the right to restrict use.
Whether or not the FCC will agree with AT&T isn't yet clear. The New York Times recently stated that AT&T actually is in violation of FCC regulations and that the carrier can not block applications that compete with a carrier's own voice or telephony services.
Regardless whether the app is pre-installed or not, FaceTime should probably be considered a competing service. The fact that a specific data plan is required in order to use it is another contention point. Data is data and regardless what tier you're on, you're paying for the same bits and bytes. It still begs the question, why should one tiered data plan be treated different than any other? If customers go over their allotment, charge them appropriate overages and call it a day. Forcing customers on a plan they don't want or need doesn't seem to be in anyone's best interest.
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iMore senior editor from 2011 to 2015.