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AT&T appears to have quietly begun rolling out nationwide support for Apple’s FaceTime videoconferencing app for iPhone on its cellular network.
While AT&T has made no official announcement about beginning a nationwide rollout, the move would be a major step toward fulfilling a promise it made in May that its LTE customers would be able to use video chat apps from Apple, Samsung, and BlackBerry over the AT&T network by mid-June.
Customers of the wireless service in New York, Maryland, Georgia, Louisiana, California, and Hawaii tell AppleInsider that they have verified activation of the service. Users report that voice and video quality is on par with the W-Fi version of the service, suggesting that speeds are not being restricted for subscribers using AT&T’s network.
CNET has contacted AT&T for comment and will update this report when we learn more.
The apparent move comes less than a month after AT&T announced that it would enable video chat apps that come preloaded on devices sold by Apple, Samsung, and BlackBerry over its cellular network by mid-June for its unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices.
AT&T came under scrutiny when the company limited iOS users to using Apple’s Facetime app over Wi-Fi only. After public pressure and the threat of a Federal Communications Commission investigation, AT&T revised its policy to allow any wireless customer with a tiered data plan to use Apple’s FaceTime app over AT&T’s cellular network.
