Marriott has agreed to pay a $600,000 settlement after a Federal Communications Commission investigation found the hotel chain had been blocking customers' personal Wi-Fi hotspots to force them into paying for Internet service.
The company's Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville was blocking Wi-Fi signal through a monitoring system and charging customers and exhibitors $250 to $1,000 per device to tap into Marriott's Wi-Fi network, PCWorld.com reported via the FCC.
"Consumers who purchase cellular data plans should be able to use them without fear that their personal Internet connection will be blocked by their hotel or conference center," FCC Enforcement Bureau chief Travis LeBlanc said in a statement quoted by PCWorld.
"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. 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 FCC received a complaint from someone who attended an event held at the Opryland Hotel and alleged that the hotel was "jamming mobile hotspots so that you can't use them in the convention space."
Under the consent decree's terms, Marriott must cease its Wi-Fi blocking system along with developing a compliance plan and filing reports with the FCC every quarter for three years.
Marriott was not reached for comment by PCWorld or the Wall Street Journal.
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