AT&T has finally opened the gates so iPhone 4S users and owners of other non-LTE smartphones can video chat using cellular data, the company announced today in a blog post.
AT&T has finally opened the gates so iPhone 4S users and owners of other non-LTE smartphones can video chat using cellular data, the company announced today in a blog post.
While AT&T has slowly been loosening restrictions to let more people use FaceTime over its network, the company still did not let people with non-LTE devices do video chat over data. Now the company will let the many iPhone 4S owners out there use it as long as they have a tiered data plan. Anyone with a grandfathered unlimited data plan is still out of luck to use FaceTime over cellular, however.
AT&T Mobility VP Mark Collins writes:
“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 for all of our customers.
As a result of ongoing testing, we’re announcing AT&T will enable FaceTime over Cellular at no extra charge for customers with any tiered data plan using a compatible iOS device.
This means iPhone 4S customers with tiered plans will be able to make FaceTime calls over the AT&T cellular network. AT&T previously made FaceTime over Cellular available to customers with a Mobile Share plan and those with an LTE device on tiered plans.
Of course, FaceTime over Wi-Fi remains available for all customers who have a compatible iPhone or iPad.”
The update to let non-LTE phone owners use data for video chat will roll out over the next few weeks. AT&T says the update will be applied automatically, so no need to do anything but sit back and wait.
Copyright 2013, VentureBeat
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