AT&T Won't Charge for FaceTime Over Cellular, Will Require New Mobile Share Plan

NewImageAT&T will not charge customers for using the FaceTime over Cellular feature in iOS 6, but will require users to be on one of its new Mobile Share data plans. Last month, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson declined to talk about how the company would handle the new FaceTime feature, saying "it's too early to talk about pricing."

AT&T's new Mobile Share data plans will launch August 23rd, allowing users to share their monthly data allotment across multiple devices. The plans are structured with two basic components: a monthly cost for a data allotment and a per-device charge that varies from $10 to $45 depending on the type of device and the data plan selected. All of the plans include unlimited talk and text.

Here's the statement from AT&T:

AT&T will offer FaceTime over Cellular as an added benefit of our new Mobile Share data plans, which were created to meet customers’ growing data needs at a great value. With Mobile Share, the more data you use, the more you save. FaceTime will continue to be available over Wi-Fi for all our customers.

While AT&T is clearly encouraging customers to switch to the new Mobile Share plans, users can keep their existing tiered single-phone or grandfathered unlimited data plans -- though without the FaceTime over Cellular feature.

In the U.S., Sprint has said it will not charge for FaceTime over Cellular. Verizon hasn't specified what it will require of customers to use the feature.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With Rear Camera Bar Allegedly Shown in Leaked Photo

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model. The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...

Top Rated Comments

Virtualball Avatar
162 months ago
Steve Jobs would not have allowed Apple to be bullied by the carriers.
If you remember anything about iOS' history, you would know that you're undeniably wrong. iOS removed PdaNet from the App Store at the request of telecoms. iOS imposes download limits for apps due to telecoms. Steve Jobs has nothing to do with this and you sound like an idiot for bringing him up. Your logic is bad and you should feel bad.
Score: 87 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ckelley Avatar
162 months ago
Thanks AT&T for making my move to Sprint even easier.
Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)
larrylaffer Avatar
162 months ago
"The more you use, the more you save".

Oh, my sides!
Score: 55 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jwhite878 Avatar
162 months ago
If it's my data, I can use it however I want. It shouldn't matter if I'm getting emails, streaming music, using Facetime, tethering, or watching a 2 hour porno. If I go over my limit, you charge me anyway. It shouldn't be restricted to new plans, and is a shameless attempt at getting everyone to give up their unlimited data.
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
newyorksole Avatar
162 months ago
Soooo if you don't have a new data plan you can't do FaceTime over cellular? AT&T is ridiculous.
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
burnside Avatar
162 months ago
Thanks, but I'll keep my grandfathered plan. And AT&T, I'm not going to charge you for this FacePalm. :D
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)