Current Status of AT&T vs Cellular Facetime

R

Rabid Sloth

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 2, 2012
Messages
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Does anyone know if Facetime over cellular got worked out? I know I read a couple of places that if they did actually decide to block it, there were legal reasons they would have to lift the block (net neutrality, etc).

I was also curious if anyone knows if the old grandfathered AT&T unlimited data for iPhone plan could still roll into LTE.
 
It's available on AT&T if you have one of their new pooled family data plans, otherwise no, only with a jailbreak as before.
 
Unlike AT&T Verizon just came out for Face Time over cellular. Although they require you to pay full price for the iPhone whereas AT&T gives you the subsidy and you keep U/L data.

Macrumors members reported AT&T corporate calling them about this issue but they missed the calls.

Yes, your U/L data is grandfathered and if you're eligible for an upgrade you will get the discounted price as I stated above.
 
elzeus said:
Unlike AT&T Verizon just came out for Face Time over cellular. Although they require you to pay full price for the iPhone whereas AT&T gives you the subsidy and you keep U/L data.

Macrumors members reported AT&T corporate calling them about this issue but they missed the calls.

Yes, your U/L data is grandfathered and if you're eligible for an upgrade you will get the discounted price as I stated above.
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Thanks for the reply. I did find a good article last night on the current stance of things 9 to 5 mac link. I'm just going to have to keep digging for a better legal analysis of if AT&T's current stance is enforceable/permanent.
 
Rabid Sloth said:
I'm just going to have to keep digging for a better legal analysis of if AT&T's current stance is enforceable/permanent.
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Probably. It doesn't appear that they'd be doing anything illegal by only offering it to customers on their new data plans. Apple said all along that it's at the carriers discretion whether or not to support it and who to offer it to. If it's a problem for you, wait for a new jailbreak before you upgrade to iOS 6.
 
CEpeep said:
Probably. It doesn't appear that they'd be doing anything illegal by only offering it to customers on their new data plans. Apple said all along that it's at the carriers discretion whether or not to support it and who to offer it to. If it's a problem for you, wait for a new jailbreak before you upgrade to iOS 6.
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Yeah they are deep into the gray zone of the law. Here is a great article that pieces out all the ways that AT&T is saying they are within their right and doing us all a favor. It is definitely not as simple as 'it violates net neutrality'.

It's not really a deal-breaker so much for me as it might finally be the straw that breaks my back in regards to keeping my service with AT&T. I jumped on-board with them when they were the only game in town and have probably only really stayed out of convenience.
 
5gb of lte isn't too bad, never had desire for facetime over cellular but with lte, hmmm
 
I agree 5GB seems ok for LTE, but I'd like to see how bad they throttle you when you pass the 5GB mark. If they push you back to 3g speeds that's not so bad, but if you're on dial up all of the sudden that's another story.

Also, from the front page here is a link to an article talking about 3 different consumer advocacy groups giving AT&T official notice of preparing to file a complaint with the FCC about their policy. It looks like this is going to reach a final decision sooner rather than later.
 
Rabid Sloth said:
I agree 5GB seems ok for LTE, but I'd like to see how bad they throttle you when you pass the 5GB mark. If they push you back to 3g speeds that's not so bad, but if you're on dial up all of the sudden that's another story.

Also, from the front page here is a link to an article talking about 3 different consumer advocacy groups giving AT&T official notice of preparing to file a complaint with the FCC about their policy. It looks like this is going to reach a final decision sooner rather than later.
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No, they just charge you out the ass.
 
It looks like AT&T is finally letting some more plans use Facetime over cellular. The various groups are still pushing for full use as it was intended by Apple.

Cult of Mac article

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.
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It looks like remaining unlimited data customers won’t be getting FaceTime over cellular on AT&T for quite awhile. The flip won’t even be switched for LTE devices for 8-10 weeks. You need to be on a LTE device if you want to use FaceTime with a tiered plan, and 3G devices like the iPhone 4S have to be on a new Mobile Share plan.
Read more at http://www.cultofmac.com/200480/att...-mobile-share-plan-on-3g/#scj8O5jkGGAzpPqH.99
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Rabid Sloth said:
The various groups are still pushing for full use as it was intended by Apple.
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Source on this? Apple has always said this is a feature for carriers to control. If there's been a reversal of that it would be great to hear it from the horse's mouth.
 
From the article I just posted
Public interest groups like Free Press, Public Knowledge and New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute believe that AT&T’s blocking of FaceTime is illegal. These groups have threatened to file a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission “if AT&T fails to make FaceTime available to all of its customers in a timely manner.,” according to Public Knowledge.
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In regards to the 'as it was intended by Apple' comment, maybe you missinterputed that. All I meant was that it was designed to be used over cell service without playing spin the plan wheel.

I also thought it was pretty cool that this facebook post got so much traction (830,000+ likes).
iLounge article with link to fb post
 
Rabid Sloth said:
In regards to the 'as it was intended by Apple' comment, maybe you missinterputed that. All I meant was that it was designed to be used over cell service without playing spin the plan wheel.
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Cool, just looking for a source on that. Everything Apple has said so far is that it's entirely up to the carrier's discretion, so again, I'm interested to read anything they've said that indicates anything contrary to that.
 
Remember the keynote Comments that FaceTime would be open for other companies to join? That didn't get too far either.
 
Rabid Sloth said:
I agree 5GB seems ok for LTE, but I'd like to see how bad they throttle you when you pass the 5GB mark. If they push you back to 3g speeds that's not so bad, but if you're on dial up all of the sudden that's another story.

Also, from the front page here is a link to an article talking about 3 different consumer advocacy groups giving AT&T official notice of preparing to file a complaint with the FCC about their policy. It looks like this is going to reach a final decision sooner rather than later.
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About 0.5mbps in either direction. I was throttled the first day I activated the iPhone 5.
 
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