Follow-Up Regarding Marriott’s Stance on Wi-Fi Blocking
Franchisees | As previously communicated, in order to comply with the Consent Decree between Marriott and the FCC adopted on October 3, 2014, Marriott does not block guests from using their personal Wi-Fi devices at any of our Marriott-managed hotels. Over the last several weeks, a number of Marriott-managed and franchised hotels have been visited by the FCC. In each case, the hotels have worked with the FCC Agent to address their questions. Since we are seeing activity by the FCC, we felt it was important to remind everyone of Marriott’s policy and share the FAQs. Franchisees may want to provide guidance to their hotels on how to work with an FCC Agent should they visit their hotel.
As a reminder, franchisees should determine if their hotel uses containment technology, and if so, we strongly advise that it not be utilized to manage their Wi-Fi network. Given the ongoing customer concerns, we wanted to share our policy for Marriott-managed hotels for reference by our franchisees. It is Marriott’s policy across the managed portfolio not to use any form of wireless hotspot containment technology. This policy does not require meeting planners/attendees to purchase Wi-Fi network services from hotels, and if a planner wants to provide its own Wi-Fi service, or engage a third party to do so, we allow that, asking only that they coordinate with the hotel technology team.
We remain committed to protecting the security of Wi-Fi access in meeting and conference areas at our Marriott-managed hotels. We will continue to look to the FCC to clarify appropriate security measures network operators can take to protect customer data, and will also continue to work with the industry and others to find appropriate market solutions that do not involve the blocking of Wi-Fi devices. In the meantime, franchisees should consult with their technical experts and legal counsel to determine what technology should be used to address security threats.
