In a move which shows that bigwig US wireless carrier AT&T has loosened the restrictions underscored in its August-announced `FaceTime over cellular' availability for subscribers of its Mobile Share data plans, the carrier has recently announced that the video-conferencing app on its network will now be available to customers on its new tiered data plans, provided that their devices are LTE-capable.

In its announcement, AT&T said that, in the coming 6-8 weeks, the FaceTime service will be expanded to all-tiered-data customers - who are charged for a fixed amount of data each month - having LTE-enabled devices.

AT&T clarified in its announcement that users of LTE-capable devices do not need to have the LTE service activated on their device for availing the FaceTime advantage. However, the announcement also implies that the FaceTime service will still remain unavailable to customers on AT&T's unlimited data plan, which comprise unlimited data usage for a specific monthly charge, and are being phased out by the carrier.

Meanwhile, about AT&T's original decision to limit FaceTime over cellular to only its Mobile Share data plans, Jim Cicconi - AT&T's Senior Executive VP for external and legislative affairs - said in a Thursday blog post that that decision was made out of caution, as the carrier feared that heavy FaceTime usage could burden its network.

Cicconi further elaborated: "To do otherwise might have risked an adverse impact on the services our customers expect - voice quality in particular - if usage of FaceTime exceeded expectations."