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AT&T Blocking FaceTime

MobileRight to RecordNet Neutrality

In late 2012, AT&T announced that it would cripple the FaceTime video calling app on its customers’ iPhones unless they subscribed to a more expensive text-and-voice plan. This action was a clear violation of Net Neutrality.

Thanks to enormous public pressure — including Free Press' threat to file a complaint at the Federal Communications Commission — AT&T is starting to relent. In early 2013, it announced it would allow more customers to use FaceTime over its network. But more isn’t good enough.

AT&T is still blocking FaceTime for all customers with unlimited data plans. That’s a lot of people.

Let’s be clear: Data is data. AT&T has no right to decide how its customers use it.

Click here to tell AT&T what you think about its Net Neutrality violation.

Blog Posts

  • The Series of Tubes: AT&T's Up to Its Old Tricks

    Josh Levy
    May 17, 2013
    AT&T is at it again, blocking the open Internet and finding devious new ways to stomp on innovation, nickel-and-dime its customers and add to its ever-growing profits.

  • Have You No Sense of Decency, AT&T?

    Amy Kroin
    February 28, 2013
    AT&T — always looking out for the little guy, always thinking of ways to ensure we get great service for affordable prices. Um. Not.

  • Yo, AT&T: Stop Bullying Us

    Amy Kroin
    January 25, 2013

    AT&T customers are mad as hell — and by the looks of it, they’re not going to take it anymore.

    Back in August, the company announced that it would block iPhone users from accessing the FaceTime video calling app unless they subscribed to more expensive voice-and-text plans. Bedlam ensued.

More »

Actions

  • Free Our Phones

    We need open devices and networks to communicate and innovate — and that means we need the right to modify our own hardware  and truly own our cellphones.

    Congress must introduce and pass legislation that legalizes cellphone unlocking.

     

    Take Action

  • AT&T: Your World. Blocked.

    AT&T is still blocking FaceTime for users on its unlimited plans. AND it wants to get rid of any rules that protect our freedom to connect.

    What do you think of AT&T? Tell the company today. 

     

    Hey AT&T ...

  • Stop AT&T's Attack on Net Neutrality

    AT&T has announced that it’s crippling the FaceTime video calling app on its customers’ iPhones unless they subscribe to a more expensive text-and-voice plan.

    Click to learn more about AT&T's latest attack on Net Neutrality and tell the FCC to put a stop to AT&T's blocking.

    Take Action!
More »

Press Releases

  • AT&T Will Allow FaceTime on Some Data Plans, Still Blocking Unlimited

    January 16, 2013

    WASHINGTON -- On Wednesday, AT&T announced the continuation of its phased rollout of mobile FaceTime, the popular Apple video-calling application. AT&T confirmed that it will no longer block the application on its cellular network for customers on tiered data plans.

  • AT&T Reverses Course on FaceTime Blocking

    November 8, 2012
    Public interest groups are prepared to file a complaint at the Federal Communications Commission if AT&T fails to make FaceTime available to all customers in a timely manner.

  • Public Interest Groups to File Net Neutrality Complaint Against AT&T for Blocking FaceTime on iPhones and iPads

    September 18, 2012

    WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, Free Press, Public Knowledge, and the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute notified AT&T of their intent to file a formal complaint against the company. In the complaint, the three organizations will assert that AT&T is violating Net Neutrality by blocking the popular video-conferencing application FaceTime. The groups will file the complaint with the Federal Communications Commission in the coming weeks.

More »

Resources

  • The Facts about AT&T's FaceTime Blocking

    September 20, 2012

    It's harmful to consumers, competition, innovation and investment.

  • Letter Notifying AT&T of Intent to File Formal Net Neutrality Complaint

    September 18, 2012

    Free Press, Public Knowledge and the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute notified AT&T of their intent to file a formal complaint against the company. In the complaint, the three organizations will assert that AT&T is violating Net Neutrality by blocking the popular video-conferencing application FaceTime. The groups will file the complaint with the Federal Communications Commission in the coming weeks.

More »

News from Around the Web

  • FaceTime on AT&T Extended to 3G Users -- But Still Not Everyone

    NBC News
    January 17, 2013

    When Apple's FaceTime was made available to iPhone users on AT&T, the carrier only allowed the video-chatting service to be used over Wi-Fi, severely reducing its usefulness. After opening it up to 4G users late last year, they're now letting 3G, tiered-data customers have FaceTime as well -- but a few are still left out in the cold.

  • AT&T Continues Chipping at FaceTime Over Cellular Policy

    Ars Technica
    January 17, 2013

    AT&T announced that it would again expand access to FaceTime over cellular on its mobile network. Now any compatible iOS device using any tiered data plan can make FaceTime calls over cellular connections, LTE or otherwise. Those with grandfathered unlimited data plans are still left in the lurch, however.

  • AT&T Staves Off Net Neutrality Complaint by Giving Another Inch, but It's Not Fooling Anyone

    The Verge
    January 17, 2013

    AT&T announced that it would be gracious enough to let more of its users -- including those without LTE -- enjoy FaceTime over cellular, as the spirit of Net Neutrality rules require. But it's just the latest half-measure the company has taken to rectify a problem that groups like Public Knowledge and Free Press have argued all along: AT&T simply has no right to arbitrarily decide how its customers use the data they pay for from an ISP.

Learn More

  • Net Neutrality

    When we use the Internet on a computer or a smartphone, we take a lot for granted. We assume we'll be able to access any website or use any application we want, whenever we want, at the fastest speed, whether it's a giant corporation’s website or one for a mom-and-pop business around the corner. We assume we can use any service we like — watch online videos, update our Facebook status, read the news — any time we choose, on any device we choose.

  • Mobile

    Nearly half of all Americans own smartphones. By 2015, most of us will use mobile devices to access the Internet. Wireless technology is revolutionizing the very nature of how we communicate, organize and innovate. 

  • Right to Record

    The First Amendment has come under assault on the streets of America. Since the Occupy Wall Street movement began, police have arrested dozens of journalists and activists simply for attempting to document political protests in public spaces.

    The ubiquity of camera-ready smartphones has spawned legions of new journalists who can be found at every large-scale protest streaming and photographing close-up accounts of police actions and arrests. It's a new form of reporting that's open to anyone with a mobile phone and the resolve to get close to police and protesters.

People + Policy

= Positive Change for the Public Good

people + policy = Positive Change for the Public Good