AT&T CEO Responds To Rumors Of Charging Customers For FaceTime Over 3G
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson responded today to the recent rumor that the telecommunications company is planning to charge customers for data used in FaceTime calls over 3G. The feature was announced for iOS 6 in June at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.
Asked about the rumor at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Stephenson acknowledged the rumor, but then also said it’s “too early to talk about pricing,” which may in fact be executive-speak for, “we won’t tell you how much we’re gonna charge.”
Stephenson was also confronted about the idea of having developers pay for their users’ data usage. The analogy, said Stephenson, is that of a 1-800 number, in which companies pay the telecom fees for callers in hopes of attracting more customers. If a company has “business models premised on traffic,” then, Stephenson thinks having that company pay for data use is an acceptable cost of doing business.
