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Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.
USA: AT&T to support Apple’s Facetime without extra charges.
AT&T announced plans to support Apple’s Facetime video calling
service over its mobile network without extra charges for more of its
subscribers, after criticism about the additional fees it was levying on users.
However, the latest change only applies to high-end customers – users with an LTE-capable iPhone or iPad and tiered data plan.
Earlier this year, it was reported that the operator was facing
complaints from US consumer groups, who had argued that charging more
for specific over-the-top services goes against the principles of net
neutrality.
AT&T argued that the rules did not apply to apps which are
preloaded on handsets, noting that similar, alternative products are
available for download.
In a blog post yesterday, Jim Cicconi, senior EVP of External and
Legislative Affairs for the company, said that due to the number of
iPhones it has on its network, “when Apple rolls out new services or
changes, as it did in iOS 6, it can have a much greater, and more
immediate, impact on AT&T’s network than is the case with carriers
who have far fewer iPhone users”.
The operator is already supporting Facetime over Cellular for customers
with its high-end Media Share plans, while any customer can use the
service over Wi-Fi.
Cicconi said that “we will continue to gather and assess the network
data on this issue over the next few months and anticipate that we will
be able to expand the availability of FaceTime to our customers on other
billing plans in the near future”.
Heading-off another criticism, AT&T said that it will also support
the service for deaf and hard of hearing customers who qualify for
special text and data-only packages.
Facetime has been available for some time, but Apple only added support for the service over mobile networks with its recent iOS6 release.
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