Microsoft and Google have teamed up in support of guests who want to use personal Wi-Fi hotspots in hotels. The companies joined the wireless industry’s lobbying group and other parties in opposing the hotel industry’s petition, which seeks the Federal Communications Commission’s permission to block personal Wi-Fi networks on their properties, according to a report from Re/code.
In October, the FCC imposed a $600,000 fine on Marriott International for allegedly blocking personal Wi-Fi hotspots in the conference facilities of the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. Marriott maintained that the Gaylord Opryland’s actions were lawful, and the hotel was protecting guests that used its Wi-Fi service from rogue wireless hotspots.
Marriott, business partner Ryman Hospitality Properties, and the American Hotel & Lodging Association had petitioned the FCC to declare that a hotel operator can use FCC-authorized equipment to manage its Wi-Fi network even if it may result in “interference with or cause interference’ to a wireless device being used by a guest on the operator’s property.
Hilton Worldwide recently expressed its support of Marriott’s petition. Read more over at Re/code.
