With AT&T struggling to defend its decision to limit Apple's FaceTime feature to certain types of cellular data plans, Verizon Wireless last night revealed that FaceTime will be included in all of its data plans for no extra charge.
"All Verizon Wireless customers will be permitted to use the data-intensive application with no additional charges, including those remaining on unlimited data plans, according to a company spokeswoman," the Wall Street Journal reported. Verizon has confirmed to Ars that this is correct.
We already knew AT&T's plans for FaceTime, namely that the video chat feature won't cost any extra over cellular networks, but that it will require shared data plans. These plans can be more expensive, particularly for single users. AT&T claimed its decision does not technically violate the FCC's net neutrality rules, prompting our own Nate Anderson to write a classic post titled "AT&T, have you no shame?"
Verizon also has a leg up on AT&T when it comes to global LTE roaming on the iPhone 5, as we reported yesterday.
FaceTime was previously WiFi-only, but will work on cellular as well with iOS 6, which hits iPhones and iPads on September 19. Back in July, we asked readers if they'd pay extra to use FaceTime over cellular networks, and nearly 90 percent of you said, "No way." If you're a Verizon customer, you won't have to. Sprint has also said it won't place any limits on FaceTime use.
Of course, with carriers generally moving from unlimited data plans to ones with caps, heavy users of FaceTime and similar bandwidth-intensive features will have to watch their data use carefully.
Verizon has also moved to a model of shared data plans, but new and existing customers can still purchase plans covering single devices.
reader comments
50