FaceTime over Cellular was launched last year in September, when AT&T announced the service will be gradually rolled out to eventually grant access to all users. The service was previously available for customers with a Mobile Share plan or with an LTE device on tiered data plans. The service was now opened to all tiered and shared data plans and FaceTime over Wi-Fi is available for customers with compatible models of iPhone and iPad.
“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” reads the company’s announcement. “This means iPhone 4S customers with tiered plans will be able to make FaceTime calls over the AT&T cellular network”.
The actual service update will take place for no extra cost automatically announced Mark Collins, senior vice president of voice and data products. “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” the SVP wrote on the carrier’s website. “Customers do not need to do anything – the update will be applied automatically over the next few months” he added.
The first rollout of the service brought scrutiny from customers and AT&T was forced to issue a statement claiming the plan abides by FCC’s rules.
FaceTime over Cellular is still not available for older generations of iPhone and iPad. Any devices older than iPhone 4 or second-generation iPad aren’t compatible even if these devices have been updated to iOS 6.
