Remember when Marriott got hit with a fine by the FCC for blocking the personal hotspots of their guests? The FCC also announced that they would be aggressively going after other establishments who pull such stunts. Now Marriott has since changed their mind about blocking the personal WiFi hotspots of their guests, but if you recall, they did file a request at the FCC for permission to do so.Now it looks like Marriott has decided to pull the plug on that too. In a statement emailed to the folks at ArsTechnica, Marriott’s CIO Bruce Hoffmeister was quoted as saying, “Marriott International has decided to withdraw as a party to the petition seeking direction from the FCC on legal Wi-Fi security measures.”
Hoffmeister reiterates that the reason for the block was done as a security measure to protect the personal data of their guests. “We thought we were doing the right thing asking the FCC to provide guidance, but the FCC has indicated its opposition. As we have said, we will not block Wi-Fi signals at any hotel we manage for any reason.”
Similarly the American Hotel and Lodging Association who has back Marriott in their petition to block personal hotspots has decided to withdraw their petition to the FCC as well. So there you have it, the next time you’re at a hotel with exorbitant WiFi fees, know that you should be able to enable your hotspot without any interference.