As Mobile Marketing Watch reported yesterday, AT&T iPhone users running iOS 6 beta 3 have encountered a prompt notifying the user that AT&T must be contacted to enable FaceTime over cellular on their device, presumably at an added charge.
Following the report, AT&T’s Chief Executive Officer, Randall Stephenson publicly stated that it was “too early” to respond to the rumor, a likely indication of the truth that underlies the discovery.
Nonetheless, Verizon is taking an opportunity to pounce on its mobile rival by stating on the record that it will not charge for FaceTime over their cellular network.
“We are committed to our unlimited data and that means not charging for data consumption based on the application,” a Sprint representative said.
Sprint iPhone owners are undoubtedly happy to hear the news, which clearly comes at AT&T’s expense – at least for now.
As of this writing, there’s no official word on what Verizon may do with regard to charging for FaceTime video chats. There has been no indication that the carrier will charge an addition fee for FaceTime calls.
