Verizon customers will soon have the option of downloading apps that let them turn their phone into a mobile hotspot. Previously, Verizon blocked these apps because it didn’t want customers circumventing its $20 a month mobile hot spot fee. The change in heart came after the FCC determined that nation’s largest wireless carrier was in the wrong in this situation because Verizon purchased spectrum in 2008 that required them to allow open access to its network.
The wireless carrier ended up settling with the FCC along with offering a $1.25 million payment to the U.S. Treasury as a result of the FCC’s consent decree on this issue. The FCC even went as far as saying that Verizon can’t charge customers on the tiered data plans the $20 a month tethering fee it has been. That being said, Verizon was granted the ability to charge the fee for the customers who are still on an unlimited data plan. As of right now, Verizon doesn’t have a way to determine if customers are using one of these apps, therefore anyone who downloads one of these apps and tethers won’t be detected (at least not as of right now).
As of right now, customers who use AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint charge fees on some plans to use the handset as a hotspot. The whole decision was based on the FCC’s consent decree based on Verizon’s purchase of 700 MHz spectrum that came with a mandate that Verizon let other devices and applications run on the spectrum.
Users can find the basics of the settlement according to the FCC’s release below:
Under the terms of today’s settlement, Verizon Wireless will make a voluntary payment to the Treasury in the amount of $1.25 million, and has committed to notifying the application store operator that it no longer objects to the availability of the tethering applications to C-Block network customers in the operator’s online market. Verizon Wireless has also agreed to implement a compliance plan, requiring that:
In addition, the company recently revised its service offerings such that consumers on usage-based pricing plans may tether, using any application, without paying an additional fee.
- employees will receive training on compliance with the C Block rules;
- future communications with application store operators regarding the availability of applications to Verizon Wireless customers will be reviewed in advance by legal counsel; and
- Verizon will report any instances of noncompliance with the rule at issue that might occur during the two-year term of the plan.
In addition, the company recently revised its service offerings such that consumers on usage-based pricing plans may tether, using any application, without paying an additional fee.
Source: FCC via GigaOm
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