After Settling for $1.25 Million, Does Verizon Still Charge for Tethering?

If you are a Verizon Wireless customer, and want to check if your phone uses C Block, do the following:

1. Find the phone’s FCC ID number – for a non-iPhone, usually under the battery. (Verizon does not presently offer a 4G iPhone.)
2. Go to this FCC website. Enter the FCC ID number: the first three characters go in the first field, and all other characters in the second field. Scroll down and click on “Start Search.”
3. On the next screen, inspect the right-hand column, which lists the frequencies on which the phone is authorized to transmit. Look for a number in the 776–787 range. If you find one, congratulations! You’ve got a C Block phone, and are probably entitled to free tethering (and maybe to free hot spot use as well). We say “probably” because your particular Verizon plan or location may not activate the C Block frequencies.

But even if you qualify, can you actually get free tethering and hot spot service? And refunds for past charges? Neither the FCC nor Verizon is saying.

Run your own experiment, if you have a C Block phone. Using the micro-USB to USB cable that came with the phone, connect the phone to a laptop, and turn both on. On the phone, go into Settings, and possibly More Settings or Advanced, looking for “USB Tethering.” Tap it and see what happens. What happened to us was a “Sign up” screen inviting us to incur that $20 per month. (You can back away without starting the charge.)

On at least some app stores, software to bypass the tethering charges remains freely available, even for a Verizon phone. And besides pocketing the $20 per month, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that use of the software is probably legal, at least for you.