Verizon settles with FCC on tethering - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The Federal Communications Commission has approved a $1.25 million settlement with Verizon Wireless to end an investigation into whether the company asked Google to withhold so-called "tethering" software for Internet sharing.

Until recently, phone companies charged extra fees to allow tethering, or sharing of Internet access between devices.

Applications stores, like those run by Google and Apple, have worked with carriers and restricted apps that try to get around those fees. Verizon's LTE network, which went live in late 2010, uses a slice of the airwaves that carries special conditions. And the carrier is not allowed to block any lawful applications from devices on the network.

This marks the first time the FCC has exercised its authority over those airwaves.

Verizon says it did not block customers from using third-party applications, and that the settlement, in its words, "puts behind...concerns related to an employee's communication with an app store operator about tethering applications."

Verizon eliminated its tethering fees for limited-data plans last month, with the introduction of a new suite of "Share Everything" plans. It hasn't charged extra for tethering on the latest iPad, which is the first Apple Inc. device with LTE access.

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