Marriott Pays $600,000 for Blocking WiFi at Nashville’s Opryland Hotel

Hotel Accused Of Blocking Personal Wi-Fi Signals In Convention Hall

By Gautham Nagesh
Oct. 3, 2014 12:48 p.m. ET

Marriott International Inc. agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty for blocking people from using personal Wi-Fi networks at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center, one of the largest hotel and convention centers in the eastern U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission announced a settlement with Marriott on Friday, which bars Marriott from using the blocking feature on its Wi-Fi monitoring system at the Gaylord Opryland. The FCC, in its complaint, accused Marriott of blocking personal Wi-Fi signals in convention halls to encourage guest to pay to use its Wi-Fi offerings.
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The FCC received a complaint in March 2013 from an individual who attended a function at the Gaylord Opryland that alleged the hotel “was jamming mobile hot spots so that you can’t use them in the convention space.” The FCC found after an investigation that employees at the Gaylord Opryland has been blocking wireless hot spot networks created by guests, while charging conference attendees anywhere from $250 to $1,000 to use the Gaylord’s Wi-Fi service in the conference center.

Under the consent decree, Marriott must stop using Wi-Fi blocking technology and file reports with the FCC for three years, along with paying the civil penalty.

Write to Gautham Nagesh at gautham.nagesh@wsj.com