Marriott will pay $600,000 to resolve a Federal Communications Commission investigation on whether Marriott intentionally blocked customers Wi-Fi networks last year at a hotel and conference center in Nashville.
Marriott employees used features of a Wi-Fi monitoring system at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center to prevent people from connecting to the Internet using their own personal Wi-Fi networks, a FCC Enforcement Bureau’s investigation showed.
At the same time, Marriott charged consumers, small businesses, and exhibitors from $250 to $1,000 per device to access Marriott’s Wi-Fi network.
“It is unacceptable for any hotel to intentionally disable personal hotspots while also charging consumers and small businesses high fees to use the hotel’s own Wi-Fi network,” said Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc. “This practice puts consumers in the untenable position of either paying twice for the same service or forgoing Internet access altogether.”
In March 2013, the commission received a complaint from a consumer who had attended a function at the Gaylord Opryland. The complaint alleged that the Gaylord Opryland was “jamming mobile hotspots so that you can’t use them in the convention space.”
Under the consent decree announced Friday, Marriott must not use Wi-Fi blocking technology and take steps to improve how it monitors and uses its Wi-Fi technology at all the properties it owns or manages. Marriott must also file compliance reports with the FCC every three months for three years.
