AT&T Offers FaceTime Concession in Response to Net Neutrality Complaints
AT&T will no longer block use of the FaceTime video calling application on its network for at least some of its customers who haven’t subscribed to its “Mobile Share” data plan, AT&T Senior Executive Vice President Jim Cicconi said Thursday on the company’s blog. Public interest groups who had raised net neutrality questions about AT&T’s blocking of the application (CD Sept 19 p1) hailed the decision but said it doesn’t go far enough.
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"In this instance, with the FaceTime app already preloaded on tens of millions of AT&T customers’ iPhones, there was no way for our engineers to effectively model usage, and thus to assess network impact,” Cicconi said (http://xrl.us/bnyopf). “It is for this reason that we took a more cautious approach toward the app. To do otherwise might have risked an adverse impact on the services our customers expect -- voice quality in particular -- if usage of FaceTime exceeded expectations. And this is important for all our customers regardless of which smartphone they may use."
But AT&T has decided to allow subscribers on all its tiered data plans with an LTE device to start using the application, to be phased in the next eight to 10 weeks, Cicconi said: “We will continue to gather and assess the network data on this issue over the next few months and anticipate that we will be able to expand the availability of FaceTime to our customers on other billing plans in the near future."
"The law is clear,” said Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood. “AT&T cannot block FaceTime based on claims of potential congestion. There’s nothing even remotely reasonable about that approach.” Wood said AT&T’s announcement is “a move in the right direction, but until the company makes FaceTime available to all of its customers it is still in violation of the FCC’s rules and the broader principles of Net Neutrality."
Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer said the group’s goal was to end the blocking and a formal complaint at the FCC remains possible. “An FCC complaint offers a path to a positive resolution for consumers, but it’s a path with an uncertain timeline,” he said. “So we are willing to wait and see if AT&T will follow through with its promise to end its illegal practices in short order. We still intend to pursue legal action against AT&T if it doesn’t make FaceTime available to all of its customers quickly."
"I applaud AT&T’s announcement to commit to open service beyond its Mobile Share plan,” said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., ranking member of the Communications Subcommittee. “This is a victory for consumers and for those who know a free and open Internet is vital to sustaining our rapidly expanding mobile technology market."
The FCC Open Internet Advisory Committee’s Mobile Broadband Working Group has been investigating complaints raised by the public interest groups about AT&T’s blocking the application (CD Oct 10 p1).