AT&T hardly needs to go out looking for reasons to enrage its subscriber base — customer satisfaction surveys suggest the wireless carrier is doing a fine job at it already — but lest anyone think the company is going to have a Grinch-like moment where it suddenly starts caring about the people of Whoville, it found a way to tick off both its own customers and mobile users at large. AT&T essentially confessed that its wireless network is ill equipped to handle the demands of Apple’s FaceTime protocol over cellular, so instead of announcing plans to invest in network upgrades, the company decided to restrict cellular usage of the iOS app to only those who subscribe to a Mobile Share data plan.

AT&T’s controversial decision sparked an immediate backlash on the internet as well as a debate about whether or not the wireless carrier’s policy is a breach of net neutrality rules. Make no mistake, how this ultimately plays out should be of interest to anyone with a mobile phone plan, not just iPhone users.

Sure, lovestruck iPhone owners who want to make googly eyes at their significant others during business trips lose out, but AT&T’s move maps out a game plan other wireless carriers could follow. Maybe Verizon decides to do the same thing, or perhaps T-Mobile, which doesn’t offer the iPhone, decides to restrict access to a particular Android app because its bandwidth demands are too burdensome. What if wireless carriers decide you can only watch Netflix videos if you subscribe to a pricier data plan than the one you’re currently on? These scenarios are strictly theoretical, mind you, but well within the realm of possibility if AT&T is allowed to duck and dodge net neutrality. Of course, as far as AT&T is concerned, the company isn’t doing anything wrong and anyone who claims otherwise is simply incorrect.

AT&T’s Vice President for Regulatory Affairs dismissed the consumer and media backlash as “another knee jerk reaction,” claiming that “some groups have rushed to judgement.”

Quinn went on to explain that “the FCC’s net neutrality rules do not regulate the availability to customers of applications that are preloaded on phones.” In other words, AT&T’s whole argument is predicated on the idea of distinguishing between preloaded and downloaded apps. Some would call that a loophole, and a blatant one at that.

In fact, those “knee-jerk” reactions AT&T refer to appear all over cyberspace. Organizations and media have accused AT&T of a “bait and switch,” participating in “simple extortion,” and “holding FaceTime hostage,” to point out the general attitude around the web.

To be fair, FaceTime chews through data with reckless abandon, as a result of running a pair of video streams at the same time. If you’re a heavy FaceTime user, you could easily blast the data cap right off your plan and later be staring at a hefty phone bill. The bigger concern for AT&T, however, is the resulting network congestion.

Still, it doesn’t sit well with subscribers that AT&T is allowed to restrict access to readily available apps when the FCC clearly stipulates that “mobile broadband providers may not block lawful websites, or applications that compete with their voice or video telephony services.” It’s also a little ironic — when AT&T rolled out its Mobile Share data plans, it one upped Verizon by keeping its current plans in place, something Verizon opted not to do when introducing its Share Everything plans. Bravo AT&T, except there’s now a perception that it’s using questionable tactics to force users to upgrade.

AT&T says it’s in “learning mode” and promises to monitor the impact FaceTime has on its cellular network. In the meantime, we’ll all be monitoring how AT&T’s sketchy policy affects the rest of the wireless industry.