FCC Fines Hilton for Blocking Investigation Into Alleged Wi-Fi Jamming
Jennifer Billock November 04, 2015
Hilton Hotels has received a hefty fine for allegedly blocking an investigation by the FCC.
Back in August of last year, guests at Hilton hotels began logging complaints with the Federal Communications Commission that the hotel was using a Wi-Fi hotspot jammer for profit, forcing customers to pay a $500 fee to use their own Wi-Fi hotspots. The FCC replied by sending a letter to Hilton looking for more information.
According to the FCC, Hilton never replied regarding the majority of the company’s hotel portfolio. The FCC regards this as obstruction of an investigation and on Monday fined Hilton $25,000 with a warning that significantly higher fines will come if the company continues to be tight-lipped about the issue.
“Hotel guests deserve to have their Wi-Fi blocking complaints investigated by the Commission,” Travis LeBlanc, head of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau, told CNN Money. “To permit any company to unilaterally redefine the scope of our investigation would undermine the independent search for the truth and the due administration of the law.”
But Hilton doesn’t agree with the fine. The company says it has cooperated from day one, providing background information and assuring all company hotels know about the policy prohibiting Wi-Fi blockers.
“Throughout this inquiry, we have cooperated with the FCC, providing extensive background and details in a timely and efficient manner,” a Hilton Worldwide spokesman told CNN Money. “We believe that the FCC has no basis for vastly expanding the initial inquiry based on a single complaint at a single Hilton hotel.”
[Photo: Getty Images]
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Shame on Hilton. I am rethinking my Hilton loyalty because of this. How really stupid to think we would not find this out. We know others are doing this also. Try to block my personal Wifi site and I am a former customer. Get rid of the executives that were involved in this.
I am sure Hilton is shaking and worrying about a $25K fine. (Sarcasm intended) Hilton worldwide is valued at $25,000,000,000.00 I guess a find that is .000001 percent is really going to hurt them. The fine is smaller than a rounding number for accounting purposes. Laughable if were not tax payer money wasted. I bet Hilton appeals the fine.