Hilton Hotels in Hot Water for Possible Hotspot Wifi Blocking
Uh-Oh. It seems that another big hotel chain has gotten caught wifi blocking of guest personal hotspots.
CNN reports that in August 2014, guests staying at Hilton properties complained to the FCC that Hilton was requiring a $500 fee before they could use their personal Wifi hotspots.
In November 2014, the FCC asked Hilton by way of a written request for more background on their Wifi blocking policies. According to CNN Money, Hilton did not provide enough information so earlier this week the FCC gave Hilton a $25,000 fine to start –
It is not unheard of for hotels to use Wifi jammers, which basically block all Wifi signals on the property except for their own.
In fact, just about this time last year (October 2014), Marriott was fined $600,000 by the FCC for blocking guest personal hotspots. Marriott then petitioned to be allowed to block “rogue hotspots” but their request was denied by the FCC.
I am not a bit surprised at the news, though I would be disappointed if Hilton was still blocking guest Wifi hotspots. In June of this year (2015), Hilton announced that all Hilton properties worldwide would offer free wifi to all guests if booking directly through official channels. Diamond members also get complimentary “premium” internet which is a higher speed tier that is better for streaming.
It could be that Hilton was hoping if they changed their policies and just didn’t answer the FCC immediately then the problem would somehow go away….
If Hilton is found guilty of guest Wifi hotspot blocking, would you be surprised?
