dslreports logo
 story category
Free Press Campaigns Against AT&T Facetime Fee
If FCC Allows This, 'What's Next?' Asks Group
The other day we noted that AT&T will be forcing users who want to use Facetime over their cellular network to sign up for the company's new shared data plans and its hefty $15 overages. According to consumer advocates the effort to limit what applications consumers can use violates the FCC's network neutrality rules. As we've noted the rules don't do all that much and come with plenty of loopholes, given they were essentially based on a template drafted by Verizon and Google. Consumer group Free Press is now running a campaign urging consumers to sign a petition; Free Press worried that if the FCC allows this move by AT&T to pass, there's no knowing exactly what a company like AT&T will attempt next.
Click for full size
view:
topics flat nest 
old_wiz_60
join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA

old_wiz_60

Member

Waste of time

AT&T has enough influence (via lawyers and cash) with the FCC to ignore any problems.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Re: Waste of time

Perhaps, but I'm sure they also thought they could push the T-Mobile acquisition right on through, and we know how that turned out.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Re: Waste of time

They gambled that an FCC controlled by Democrats would give them what they wanted. They should have waited on a Republican controlled FCC to get what they wanted.
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

1 recommendation

MyDogHsFleas to old_wiz_60

Premium Member

to old_wiz_60
What are you talking about, this has nothing to do with the FCC.
The FCC net neutrality rules do not apply to wireless.

MxxCon
join:1999-11-19
Brooklyn, NY

MxxCon

Member

Re: Waste of time

They can and they must.
en103
join:2011-05-02

en103 to old_wiz_60

Member

to old_wiz_60
Vote with your wallet. T-Mobile / Sprint are bucking the trend.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Re: Waste of time

That takes effort and consumers at large are too lazy to do that.
MrHappy316
Wish I had my tank
Premium Member
join:2003-01-02
Columbia, SC

MrHappy316

Premium Member

Re: Waste of time

Less laziness than the huge $300+ early termination fees looming over their head, per number

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

Hmmm

I was just thinking about this last night, wondering if someone was gona bring this up. AT&T is so full of shit, its not even funny anymore.

Mike
Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA

Mike

Mod

Re: Hmmm

Your options are Verizon, ATT, and Sprint.

If you are an ATT customer and your contract is up, you can switch. I plan on doing that.

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

Re: Hmmm

Im going to wait to see what they will do with my unlimited plan switching to the iphone 5, if I cant keep it, im going to start shopping around. Id love to go to verizon but I the 2gb for $30 is too damn expensive....
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Hmmm

said by Duramax08:

Im going to wait to see what they will do with my unlimited plan switching to the iphone 5, if I cant keep it, im going to start shopping around. Id love to go to verizon but I the 2gb for $30 is too damn expensive....

You don't even have that option with Verizon anymore. New customers are required to go with the Share Everything plans.

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

Re: Hmmm

said by 88615298:

said by Duramax08:

Im going to wait to see what they will do with my unlimited plan switching to the iphone 5, if I cant keep it, im going to start shopping around. Id love to go to verizon but I the 2gb for $30 is too damn expensive....

You don't even have that option with Verizon anymore. New customers are required to go with the Share Everything plans.

LAME!
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to Mike

Member

to Mike
New Verizon customers have to sign up for their Share Everything plans. So if one leaves at&t because they don't want to be on their share plans why would they go with Verizon?
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

MyDogHsFleas

Premium Member

Re: Hmmm

Exactly, BF69. AT&T's shared plans are better than Verizon's in two ways:

(a) AT&T still has their same individual and family plans as before, and you are free to choose them instead of their new shared plan. Verizon requires you to switch to the shared plan on renewals, and only offers the shared plan to new customers.

(b) AT&T's plans are slightly less expensive in most scenarios. See this blog for an in depth analysis.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Hmmm

said by MyDogHsFleas:

Exactly, BF69. AT&T's shared plans are better than Verizon's in two ways:

(a) AT&T still has their same individual and family plans as before, and you are free to choose them instead of their new shared plan. Verizon requires you to switch to the shared plan on renewals, and only offers the shared plan to new customers.

If you want to use Facetime you don't have a choice. Which was my point.

(b) AT&T's plans are slightly less expensive in most scenarios. See this blog for an in depth analysis.

Actually not. I don't need a link I'm well versed in what each plan offers.
MyDogHsFleas
Premium Member
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX

MyDogHsFleas

Premium Member

Re: Hmmm

said by 88615298:

Actually not. I don't need a link I'm well versed in what each plan offers.

Gee, OK, I'll believe you instead of the guy who actually DOES an analysis and PRESENTS his conclusions, because you are "well versed".
MyDogHsFleas

MyDogHsFleas to 88615298

Premium Member

to 88615298
said by 88615298:

If you want to use Facetime you don't have a choice. Which was my point.

AT&T: you can have an individual or a shared data plan. You can use Facetime over cellular with the shared data plan.

Verizon: you can only have a shared data plan, and you can use Facetime over cellular with it.

Which is better, again?

Please don't tell me you think a data plan without Facetime is somehow "worthless". That's BS.

Mike
Mod
join:2000-09-17
Pittsburgh, PA
·Verizon FiOS

2 edits

Mike to 88615298

Mod

to 88615298
Holy shit.

I just tried to make a random iPhone 4S purchase (fake obivously) and you're not making it up.

40 a month forced access fee on top of $60 a month for voice + data + text.

$100 a month min for a VZ iPhone.

I hopped on chat to India and here is what I got when I asked why it's so expensive;

"Every plan is made of an access fee and plan it is not shown, most plans have an access fee of about 9.99. But it does not include shared data, or the hotspot feature which allows you to use your phone as internet to other devices. Yes I know you only have one device but there is still an access fee for that device. And of course ATT is cheaper all of our competitors are but they also do not offer or have as good as service, so it is basically like you pay for what you get with them"

Guess I'm staying with ATT and their unusable shit network... I hate everything.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

choice..

you do not have to buy service from AT&T or Verizon..
just as people find ways to not buy gasoline as the price rises...
during the previous runups to $5 a gallon of gasoline, many people left their cars at home and took public transportation.... because it was cheaper..

while this might be as anti-cult like of trying convince lemmings not to buy Apple products.. the same principal applies.. if you don't agree with the price, brand, quality, or service.. dont' buy it.. vote with your dollars.. there are cheaper ways to get that broadband data fix w/o subscribing to a data plan.

so easily many are willing to give up cable-tv (video) service subscriptions, but cell phone data plans? from their cold and broke dead hands, ugh..

LightS
Premium Member
join:2005-12-17
Greenville, TX

LightS

Premium Member

Re: choice..

In a lot of cases, yes. There are usually MVNOs that you can purchase that still utilize ATT, Verizon, etc's network..

However, in some areas you can only get one to two cell providers. And, a lot of the time for a family it's easier to just stick with what they have, etc.

Also, a lot of people need their data plans... at least I do, personally. (work reasons). My work phone is AT&T however, in some places I don't get signal so I have to use my personal phone's data. Rare, but it does happen.

jseymour
join:2009-12-11
Waterford, MI

jseymour

Member

Here's A Radical Idea

Unlike other services, in which the thing that calls itself "AT&T" these days often has a (near-)monopoly, wireless customers have choices.. Simply pick another carrier. Not that hard.

Jim
nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD

1 recommendation

nasadude

Member

only one way to win

the only way for consumers to win this game is not play; so far, I'm winning.

MxxCon
join:1999-11-19
Brooklyn, NY

MxxCon

Member

Re: only one way to win

..said a guy who has Verizon service. :/
nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD

nasadude

Member

Re: only one way to win

said by MxxCon:

..said a guy who has Verizon service. :/

i have verizon internet and TV, not cell phone; I don't have cell service from anyone, not even a prepay.

unless I am mistaken this discussion is about cell service

MxxCon
join:1999-11-19
Brooklyn, NY

MxxCon

Member

Re: only one way to win

True, but Verizon as a whole is just as guilty in trying to subvert network neutrality efforts.

Twaddle
@sbcglobal.net

Twaddle

Anon

Manifest Destiny?

Here's a novel idea-why not dump the idea of "smart phones" all together and opt for a telecommunication device that just makes telephone calls and let them keep their "Data Plans" and their extortionists Data plan rates? I just don't buy the notion that we "need" all the functionality of the "Smart phone" concept. If enough of the market rejects all this legitimized extortion maybe AT&T, Verizon et. al. would re-connect with economic reality.

Morac
Cat god
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ

Morac

Member

AT&T comes up with BS response....

»attpublicpolicy.com/fcc/ ··· network/

Basically AT&T's position is that since the app is pre-installed, they provide the app, so they can block it.

joshuapat
Premium Member
join:2002-01-04
Minneapolis, MN

joshuapat

Premium Member

Re: AT&T comes up with BS response....

said by Morac:

»attpublicpolicy.com/fcc/ ··· network/

Basically AT&T's position is that since the app is pre-installed, they provide the app, so they can block it.

Easy, just pull the app from iOS6 and offer it as a free download from the app store.
sandman_1
join:2011-04-23
11111

sandman_1

Member

MVNO

People just go MVNO and forget these ridiculously priced postpaid plans and low data caps.

You can still use Verizon and AT&T's network and save a lot of money (your phone probably could be flashed over too!). Yea you might get 4G speeds but who needs 4G speeds with a low data cap.

There are always choices...

AVD
Respice, Adspice, Prospice
Premium Member
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ

AVD

Premium Member

how does Skype work on ATT?

Can you use skype or google hangouts (or google talk) over a cellular data connection?

•••