FaceTime In The Middle East - Works With iPod Touch
by Joe White
October 16, 2010
Not long ago, we told you about an Apple support document which explained exactly where FaceTime is not available. Interestingly, the five countries in which FaceTime is "banned" are all in the Middle East. They were each marked with a footnote stating that “FaceTime is not available on this carrier."
Following this, 9to5Mac has posted an article confirming the above speculation: that FaceTime has indeed been banned due to carrier restrictions which have nothing to do with Apple, or any Middle Eastern governments. How do we know this? Because it is possible to FaceTime call from an iPod touch in the Middle East.
This means that it is, in fact, a carrier restriction which is preventing Middle Eastern iPhone 4 owners from making FaceTime calls. Which doesn't quite make sense, as FaceTime can be initiated from within an email on iPhones, meaning no interaction with the carrier is required.
We can only hope that iPhone 4 owners in the Middle East will be able to FaceTime call soon. Otherwise, they'll have to buy an iPod touch 4G to take advantage of the feature. And, considering how Apple has been using FaceTime to push iPhone 4 sales, this isn't really fair.
Following this, 9to5Mac has posted an article confirming the above speculation: that FaceTime has indeed been banned due to carrier restrictions which have nothing to do with Apple, or any Middle Eastern governments. How do we know this? Because it is possible to FaceTime call from an iPod touch in the Middle East.
This means that it is, in fact, a carrier restriction which is preventing Middle Eastern iPhone 4 owners from making FaceTime calls. Which doesn't quite make sense, as FaceTime can be initiated from within an email on iPhones, meaning no interaction with the carrier is required.
We can only hope that iPhone 4 owners in the Middle East will be able to FaceTime call soon. Otherwise, they'll have to buy an iPod touch 4G to take advantage of the feature. And, considering how Apple has been using FaceTime to push iPhone 4 sales, this isn't really fair.
