Free Press Says Verizon's App Tethering Ban in Violation of C Block Licenses

Thumbnail image for Verizon4GLTE.jpgFree Press filed a complaint today with the Federal Communications
Commission against Verizon for violating LTE network license rules.

Licensees of the C Block of the upper 700MHz block may not "deny,
limit, or restrict" the ability of their customers to use the
applications or devices of the customers' choosing.
They claim that Verizon has been denying, limiting and restricting the customers' choices by asking
Google to disable tethering applications in the Android Market. 
Tethering applications, which allow users to make their phones into
mobile hotspots, implicate the customers' ability to use both the
applications and devices of their choice.

Free Press argues that, by
preventing customers from downloading tethering applications from the
Android Market, Verizon is restricting not only the applications
available to them, but is also limiting the use of tethered devices, such as
laptop or tablet computers.

The complaint asks the FCC to investigate Verizon's flagrant disregard for the conditions of its C-Block licenses.