Wi-Fi War: Marriott Versus Microsoft and Google
In August of 2014, hotel giant Marriott International filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) along with American Hospitality & Lodging Association (a hotel lobby group). That petition requested permission to block their customers’ wireless modems and hotspots. Translation – Marriott wants to block your own personal, paid for Wi-Fi, so you are forced to purchase their Wi-Fi services.
There hasn’t been a ruling yet, but in October of 2014, Marriott was fined $600,000 by the FCC after complaints were lodged by a large group of convention attendees at the hotel’s Nashville branch. Their personal Wi-Fi was blocked and the hotel forced the guests to use their service which cost between $250 and $1,000 per connection.
FYI – The practice of blocking connections, whether personal or professional, is ILLEGAL.
Per the Federal Communications Commission:
“Federal law prohibits the operation, marketing, or sale of any type of jamming equipment, including devices that interfere with cellular and Personal Communication Services (PCS), police radar, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and wireless networking services (Wi-Fi).”
If you find your hotel, or any other places for that matter, are jamming your personal connections, you can call 1-855-55NOJAM to report them.
Marriott defends their petition by stating…
“In light of the increased use of wireless technology to launch cyber-attacks and purposefully disrupt hotel networks, Marriott along with the American Hotel & Lodging Association on behalf of the entire hotel industry is seeking clarity from the FCC regarding what lawful measures a network operator can take to prevent such attacks from occurring.”
Right…because Marriott is now the pinnacle of internet safety? No. You can go across the street to the small business coffee shop who is barely making a decent living and get Wi-Fi for free. There are thousands of other locations, including competing hotels, that offer Wi-Fi for free.
In December of 2014, tech and telecom titans Microsoft and Google countered Marriott with oppositional arguments. The NCTA (trade/lobbying group for the cable and telecom industry) and the CTIA (trade/lobbying group for the wireless industry) have also thrown in comments on the matter opposing Marriott.
“Willfully excluding these other authorized devices from using that unlicensed spectrum, under the guise of mitigating so-called threats to the reliability (performance) of an operator’s own network, violates Section 333.”
Three key points were made:
1. The unlicensed spectrum wifi belongs to everyone.
2. Blocking personal connections does constitute as illegal jamming.
3. The practice of blocking connections violates public interest.
On the bright side, the FCC’s job is uphold public interest, so predictions are that the petition will be turned down. It should be noted that Marriott claims the goal is to “protect conference and meeting guests and the conference groups that are using Wi-Fi technology in our hotels.“