AT&T Accused of “Holding FaceTime Hostage”

AT&T triggered consumer and media outrage when it announced that it would only allow iPhone users to use the video chat app FaceTime on the carrier’s cellular data network if the customers purchased a shared data plan. AT&T eventually changed its policy, but only after the company was subjected to a barrage of negative press and customer complaints, with the media accusing the company of “holding FaceTime hostage,” “slapping consumers in [the] face over FaceTime,” and carrying out “simple extortion.”