“FaceTime over Cellular” Made Available Only in Part in Korea from October

Apple’s FaceTime is brewing a controversy which is similar to that surrounding the VoiceTalk service of Kakao.

On September 12, the iPhone5 was unveiled with the iOS6 which supports the video phone feature on wireless communications networks as wells as WiFi. Under the circumstances, Korean mobile carriers are planning to allow the service only to their contract-based customers, causing disputes over the network neutrality issue.

SK Telecom and KT have already put a limit on the mVoIP usage of its LTE handset users as they did to 3G phone customers. According to them, the FaceTime is the same type of service as mVoIP and therefore the restriction according to the basic monthly charge makes sense.

Unlike the Korean operators, Verizon and Sprint are going to charge nothing for the FaceTime based on 3G or LTE in a bid to attract more iPhone5 users.