Media Contact:
Will Wiquist, 202-418-0509
will.wiquist@fcc.gov
For Immediate Release
FCC PLANS $718,000 FINE AGAINST M.C. DEAN FOR BLOCKING WI-FI AT
BALTIMORE CONVENTION CENTER
WASHINGTON, November 2, 2015 - The Federal Communications Commission plans a $718,000
fine against M.C. Dean for blocking consumers' Wi-Fi connections at the Baltimore Convention
Center. The FCC's Enforcement Bureau investigation found that M.C. Dean, Inc., one of the nation's
largest electrical contracting companies, blocked personal mobile hotspots of convention visitors
and exhibitors who tried to use their own data plans to connect to the Internet rather than paying M.C.
Dean substantial fees to use the company's Wi-Fi service.
Consumers are tired of being taken advantage of by hotels and convention centers that block their
personal Wi-Fi connections, said Travis LeBlanc, Chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau. This
disturbing practice must come to an end. It is patently unlawful for any company to maliciously block
FCC-approved Wi-Fi connections.
As the exclusive provider of Wi-Fi access at the Baltimore Convention Center, M.C. Dean charges
exhibitors and visitors as much as $1,095 per event for Wi-Fi access. Last year, the Commission
received a complaint from a company that provides equipment that enables users to establish hotspots
at conventions and trade shows. The complainant alleged that M.C. Dean blocked hotspots its
customers had tried to establish at the Baltimore Convention Center. After receiving the complaint,
Enforcement Bureau field agents visited the venue on multiple occasions and confirmed that Wi-Fi
blocking activity was taking place.
The Enforcement Bureau's investigation found that M.C. Dean engaged in Wi-Fi blocking at the
Baltimore Convention Center on dozens of occasions in the last year. During the investigation, M.C.
Dean revealed that it used the Auto Block Mode on its Wi-Fi system to block consumer-created
Wi-Fi hotspots at the venue. The Wi-Fi system's manual describes this mode as shoot first, and ask
questions later. M.C. Dean's Wi-Fi blocking activity also appears to have blocked Wi-Fi hotspots
located outside of the venue, including passing vehicles. The Commission today charges M.C. Dean
with violating Section 333 of the Communications Act by maliciously interfering with or causing
interference to lawful Wi-Fi hotspots.
This is the FCC's third major enforcement action regarding Wi-Fi blocking. In October 2014, the
FCC fined Marriott International, Inc. and Marriott Hotel Services, Inc. $600,000 for similar Wi-Fi
blocking activities at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. In
August 2015, the FCC fined Smart City Holdings, LLC $750,000 for similar Wi-Fi blocking at
multiple convention centers across the country.
The M.C. Dean Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture is available at:
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-15-146A1.pdf
A 2015 Enforcement Advisory on Wi-Fi blocking is available at:
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-113A1.pdf
Action by the Commission October 28, 2015 by Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (FCC 15-
146). Chairman Wheeler, Commissioners Clyburn and Rosenworcel approving with Commissioners
Pai and O'Rielly dissenting. Commissioners Pai and O'Rielly issuing statements.
###
Office of Media Relations: (202) 418-0500
TTY: (888) 835-5322
Twitter: @FCC
www.fcc.gov/office-media-relations
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes
official action. See MCI v. FCC, 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).
Most recent headlines
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
Back to All News
Legoshi and Haru's Story Reaches Its Finale: BEASTARS Fin...
21/12/2025
John Shortt named Young Sportsperson of the Year Kerry are the Team of the Year
...
20/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking ProRes RAW recording from the...
20/12/2025
CJP Broadcast has completed the digitisation of the European Gymnastics tape archive, converting 328 tapes containing more than forty years of recorded material...
20/12/2025
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced the launch of the Stream Lab MCP Server, to give AI agents and large language model...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
20/12/2025
Barack Obama Includes Laufey on His 2025 Favorite Music List The former presidents roundup of books, music, and movies includes a song from the Berklee alums ...
20/12/2025
Study reveals a key hormonal circuit in the kidneys Scripps Research scientists identify the protein that helps kidney cells regulate renin, providing foundatio...
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Diversified's Jared Timmins on AI for Broadcast Sports and Cre...
19/12/2025
2025 SVG Summit Audio Recap: Say What?The Audio Production and Distribution Workshop at the SVG Summit 20 took on issues including speech intelligibility, Next-...
19/12/2025
Gamified fun: Channel 5 on its NFL Big Game Night ambitions with Hungry Bear Med...
19/12/2025
College Football Playoff Preview: For ESPN, Round 1 is a Fantastic Yet Familia...
19/12/2025
AWS's Jason Dvorkin on Developing Partnerships With the NBA and PGA Tour, Em...
19/12/2025
Netflix Kicks Off Packed Sports Week with Paul-Joshua Fight Before Shifting to N...
19/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Nareev Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
19/12/2025
Mounted to the pylon of an AH-1Z Viper helicopter, a Red Wolf vehicle successful...
19/12/2025
L3Harris technology for the SDA Tranche 3 Tracking Layer program will provide in...
19/12/2025
Partnership brings Nielsen ONE measurement activation directly into XR's adv...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
19/12/2025
Berklee Announces Spring 2026 Signature Series This season's highlights include the Gospel Extravaganza, the 40th International Folk Festival, special gue...
19/12/2025
Performing arts centres across the globe have doubled down on live production infrastructure in recent years. For venues like the Queensland Performing Arts Cen...
19/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
Media Contact: 
