Verizon Wireless in Consent Decree Concerning Tethering Apps

Verizon Wireless has accepted an FCC consent decree and agreed to pay a $1.25 million penalty after an investigation found that the company sought to block its LTE customers from accessing tethering apps.

One of the conditions of licensing the 700-MHz C-block was that licensees offering service on C Block spectrum “shall not deny, limit, or restrict the ability of their customers to use the devices and applications of their choice on the licensee’s C Block network.”

Verizon Wireless was planning to require all customers who wanted to use their phones for tethering to subscribe to the company’s Mobile Broadband Connect service, at an additional charge.

Under the settlement, Verizon Wireless will notify app store operators that it no longer objects to the availability of the tethering applications to C-Block network customers in the operator’s online market. http://www.fcc.gov 01-Aug-12