FaceTime was one of the coveted features of the iPhone 4 when it was released last year. Though its a great feature the downside was the fact that it could be only used on Wi-Fi and Apple’s carrier partners did not support the service over 3G. It was widely expected for the same to change with the much anticipated iOS 5 update. But, alas, the same has not been the case. Though one can have it activated via jailbreaking your phone and applying a small hack. Fact remains that a lot of users are really not comfortable with jail breaking their iPhones.
Though very interestingly carriers in India have been suggesting their users, rather wrongly that FaceTime officially works on 3G to push their 3G sales, thus misleading the consumer in the process. Still giving the operators the benefit of doubt I decided to cross check with iPhone customer service which informed that FaceTime still doesn’t work on 3G and also referred me to FaceTime help guide on the Apple website. 3G plans aren’t cheap in India and operators charge on a per GB basis, with rarely any unlimited data plans showing up. We would believe that it was lack of co-ordination between carriers and Apple that Facetime over 3G isn’t active in India.
Since now its clear that FaceTime does not work on 3G officially, I would request the operators in India to stop selling their customers 3G using the false premises of making FaceTime calls on it.