The confusing and convoluted saga of AT&T's video chat policy finally seems to be drawing to a conclusion. Currently, most video chat offerings function only while an AT&T device is connected to a Wi-Fi network. To date, the only way around this was to jailbreak or root your device and use a tweak to fool it into thinking it was connected to a Wi-Fi signal, rather than utilizing an AT&T data connection.
On Monday however, AT&T announced that the subterfuge would soon be unnecessary as the carrier intends to make video chat apps available over LTE for all subscribers. This will include Apple's FaceTime and the newly launched Google Hangouts app, which debuted last week.
Currently and somewhat inexplicably, AT&T blocks LTE video chat for any app that comes pre-loaded on a device, while apps that are downloaded from the Internet, such as Skype, function normally. Further complicating the matter, AT&T claims that it is not at fault for the fact that Apple's FaceTime and Google's Hangouts apps don't currently function over LTE, instead passing the buck right back to Apple and Google:
"For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and Blackberry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we'll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from those three manufacturers," read a statement from the carrier.
Like the policy itself, the statement AT&T issued explaining its intentions is somewhat difficult to distill into meaning, but it looks like the basic gist of the announcement is this: by the end of 2013, any AT&T customer using any smartphone and regardless of data plan should be able to use their app of choice for video chat.
