FCC promises to act on complaints about AT&T FaceTime rules
updated 05:04 pm EDT, Tue September 25, 2012
Action awaiting formal filing
The Federal Communications Commission will investigate if a formal complaint is filed against AT&T over its FaceTime restrictions, according to chairman Julius Genachowski. He tells The Verge that if an effort to resolve the problem earlier "doesn't lead to a resolution and a complaint is filed, we [the FCC] will exercise our responsibilities and we will act." AT&T has come under fire for limiting cellular FaceTime calls, a feature built into iOS 6, to costly Mobile Share subscriptions.
While AT&T has defended its strategy as within regulations, critics have argued that the carrier is violating the FCC's Open Internet rules, which ban arbitrary limits to services over networks. Three groups -- Free Press, Public Knowledge, and the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute -- have announced an intent to file a formal complaint, but have yet to do so.
