AT&T Allows FaceTime Use Without Extra Charges; Older Data Plans Shunned

AT&T probably has some happy customers this week. On Wednesday the mobile carrier announced that any of their customers with iPhones or iPads will be able to use the popular Apple video communication App, FaceTime, at no extra charge, no matter what tiered data plan you are on.

Sprint and Verizon have allowed users to talk on FaceTime for a while now, but AT&T reserved that feature for their customers with shared plans at first. In the announcement on AT&T's consumer blog, AT&T representative Mark Collins said in a statement:

 "When FaceTime over Cellular launched in September 2012, we explained that we wanted to roll it out gradually to ensure the service had minimal impact on the mobile experience of all of our customers... We have already begun updating our systems and processes and expect to start rolling the update out to customers on an ongoing basis beginning in the next couple of weeks."

Not everyone is happy though, as the FaceTime availability doesn't extend to AT&T customers who have older, unlimited data plans. And while AT&T reminded us in their blog post that anyone with an iOS device can use FaceTime over Wifi, the unlimited data customers - along with FCC and net neutrality policy activists, according to Ars Technica - are going to be unhappy with AT&T still blocking the app from universal use.

Just a reminder, using FaceTime without a Wifi connection will eat up a fair amount of data from your cellular plan, so keep track, especially if you're in one of the less expensive, and less expansive, AT&T data tiers.