Microsoft And Google Urge FCC To Deny Hotels' WiFi Blocking Plan

(RTTNews) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Google (GOOG) have support people who want to use personal Wi-Fi devices to reach the Internet in U.S. hotels.

The companies filed letters aiming to sway the Federal Communications Commission as it considers whether hotels are permitted to block personal Wi-Fi devices at their properties. A lodging industry trade association petitioned the FCC last month for the ruling on blocking personal Wi-Fi signals.

The petition stems from Marriott International's (MAR) agreement last month to settle an FCC investigation into a complaint that at least one of its hotels used communications-jamming technology to disable the personal Wi-Fi hotspots that many travelers tote with them. That forced people attending or hosting conferences at a Tennessee hotel to pay to use the hotel's Wi-Fi network.

The petition by the American Hospitality and Lodging Association, which also includes Marriott, echoes that argument and also said unauthorized Wi-Fi devices can degrade Internet performance for everyone. The petition seeks to use network-management equipment from Cisco CSCO and others rather than unauthorized jamming devices.

Google and Microsoft MSFT in separate letters, asked the FCC to reject the hotel industry's petition. The companies said FCC rules clearly bar the use of equipment that interferes with "authorized radio communications," including Wi-Fi hotspots.

Google said in the letter allowing hotels and other property owners to block communications with lawfully operated Wi-Fi access points could endanger guests on those properties. Consumers increasingly rely on Wi-Fi and VoIP technologies to make calls when carrier voice service is not available, and this includes calls to emergency services. Especially in a place of public accommodation, disconnecting network connections on which users rely puts health and safety at risk.