This post is based on one of my classmates, Matteo Stephan’s blog post. Link to the post is here: https://blogs.ubc.ca/matteostefan/2014/10/05/marriott-fined-600000-by-fcc-for-blocking-wi-fi/

A month ago, Marriott Hotel is charged with $600,000 for blocking customer’s Wi-Fi, and forcing them to pay double the price in order to get their wifi when they are using conference rooms. They have been receiving complaints from customers about the Wi-Fi for a while now. After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigated the reason behind Wi-Fi blocking, they found out that Marriott hotel is doing it on purpose. Marriott Hotel stated that they blocked the wifi from outside was to prevent any “rogue wireless hotspots that can degrade service, insidious cyber-attacks and identity theft”, however they still paid the amount ($600,000).

Matteo perspective was very against Marriott Hotel’s decision on blocking outside wifi and charging double the amount on customers using their conference rooms. He said that being an industry that prioritises customer service, they should provide free wifi for any customers in their hotel. I agree with this point, especially since Mariott Hotel is famous for it’s quality in rooms and services. However I also thought about how this can relate to my high school.

In my own high school, we only have one cafeteria, run by one company and we are not allowed to order any other food outside of campus. This creates a monopoly inside our school since everyone’s forced purchase their products (food). No matter how high they set their prices, we still have to pay in order to get our lunch. This scenario can apply to Mariott Hotel, all firms want to maximize their profit, and since Wi-Fi is very common and high in demand, it is obvious to make as much profit as they can on this topic. Even though they should not charge customers double the amount necessary, having the power of a monopoly, they should charge them a reasonable price in order to gain more profit. Because with the extra profit, they can use it to develop their industry and make it an even better place for the customers to live in.