The advocacy group Free Press has filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission alleging that Verizon Wireless (News - Alert) is violating agreed-upon rules by limiting consumer access to third party tethering applications.
In the complaint, Free Press references several news sources that reported Google had blocked access to third party tethering apps in its Android (News - Alert) Market at the request of Verizon and several other mobile broadband providers.
The campaign group said that the practice not only restricts consumer options and deters innovation, but it also violates conditions that Verizon agreed to in 2008 when it secured a bid for a large portion of spectrum.
“When Verizon purchased the spectrum licenses associated with its LTE (News - Alert) network, it agreed that it would not ‘deny, limit, or restrict’ the ability of its users to access the applications,” Free Press said in the complaint.
“Plainly, Verizon’s actions in disabling access to the tethering applications” violate these terms.
News of the blocking first surfaced in May when a number of blogs reported that a popular free tethering app could no longer be downloaded by smartphones that are running on Verizon or AT&T’s (News 
- Alert) network. Fierce Wireless quoted a Google (News - Alert) spokesperson who said that the Android Market wasn’t blocking the app, it was simply making it unavailable for download at the behest of wireless providers.
A Verizon spokesperson also passed the responsibility down the line, telling Ars Technica “it’s important to remember [that] Google manages what’s available in the Android Market.”
As one might expect, the controversy has a great deal to do with money. Verizon and AT&T offer tethering services – which allow users to connect various mobile devices to the Web using their phones – for an additional $20 per month. Free tethering apps would obviously eliminate the need for users to pay that additional fee.
“Users pay through the nose for Verizon’s LTE service, and having done so, they should be able to use their connections as they see fit,” Free Press policy counsel Aparna Sridhar told TG Daily. “Instead, Verizon’s approach is to sell you broadband but then put up roadblocks to control your use of it.”
CNET has reported that users can still access the free tethering apps if they enable their handset to download software from outside of the Android Market. Then you can simply head to the website of the specific app.
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Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
