Verizon Wireless $1.2 Million Fine for Blocking Tethering Apps
Verizon Wireless will pay a $1.25 million fine leveled by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for blocking subscribers' access to certain apps -- one in particular.
For a number of years Verizon Wireless has offered a “tethering” package that allowed some subscribers to connect their laptop computers to the Internet by connecting through their cell phones. At one time the company charged an extra $30 a month for this feature.
So it didn't look favorably on app developers who devised programs that allows people who weren't paying for that feature to connect their laptops through a cell phone app. Verizon Wireless then blocked access to that app.
Special rules for Verizon
AT&T did much the same thing but avoided a fine. Why? Because part of Verizon Wireless' spectrum has special rules.
When the company purchased “C Block spectrum,” it was then bound by the FCC's C Block rules, requiring licensees of C Block spectrum to allow customers to “freely use the devices and applications of their choosing.”
Presumably that means tethering. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says the C Block spectrum rules are not optional.
“The open device and application obligations were core conditions when Verizon purchased the C-block spectrum,” Genachowski said. “The massive innovation and investment fueled by the Internet have been driven by consumer choice in both devices and applications. The steps taken today will not only protect consumer choice, but defend certainty for innovators to continue to deliver new services and apps without fear of being blocked.”
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