Marriott Hotels has dropped its push for permission to block Wi-Fi in its hotels, following a $600,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for tampering with customer's network communications.

Claiming it's request was in the name of security, Marriott and other hotel chains tried to push the new Wi-Fi blocking into law, but the FCC and tech companies like Google, Microsoft were having none of it.

Like Us on Facebook

Marriott said that, similar to company campuses, conventions halls in hotels and other places of importance should be allowed to block Wi-Fi due to security concerns. However, this would mean that hotel guests would have no choice but to pay the high fees to use Marriott's own expensive Wi-Fi service. In addition to being pricey, the service is normally capped at a certain speed to avoid network limits, and can be lackluster in its delivery to hundreds of users at one time.

But Marriott has backed down from its previous stance on the subject, claiming it has "listened to its customers" on the issue.

Marriott is still focused on protecting security and may look to block Wi-Fi in business conference halls, and other places of importance, although this will have to go through the FCC first.

Having hotels take precedence over other commercial buildings could have been disastrous for public Wi-Fi and cellular networks, since cinemas, supermarkets and other commercial places could use the same 'security' embargo.

Other hotels dropped out of the race once Marriott closed up shop, but will likely follow the hotel firm if it manages to secure Wi-Fi blocks in more important places within the hotel.

TagsMarriott Hotels, FCC, Wi-Fi blocking