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Network Management and Usage PoliciesWe are committed to providing our Internet services as an open platform for innovation, investment, job creation, economic growth, competition, and free expression. We do not block any lawful content, applications, services, or your use of non-harmful devices, or discriminate in transmitting lawful network traffic except as reasonably necessary to manage our network effectively for the benefit of our customers as described below. The purpose of this disclosure is to make available information regarding our network management practices and the performance and commercial terms of our broadband Internet access services to enable you to make informed choices regarding the purchase and use of our services, in accordance with Part 8 of the Rules of the Federal Communications Commission. Resolving Complaints and Questions If you have any questions or concerns about your Internet services, please contact us at 334-298-7000, by e-mail at inquiries by writing to us at Customer Service Manager, CTVEA, P.O. Box 130, Phenix City, AL 36867. Service Options and Usage We currently offer the following options for Internet Services:
The Monthly Usage Allotment for each service plan above is measured in Gigabytes (GB) of data uploaded or downloaded. Additional usage is charged at $1.00 per GB or fraction thereof. Unused portions of this allotment are not carried forward to later months. If a customer desires more data transfer than is allotted they can customize the amount of additional GB of data transfer they would like for as low as $0.50 per Gigabyte for a block of 100 GB or $0.75 per Gigabyte for a block of 20 GB. Customers may also change their level of internet service at any time. Data transfer allotments allow us to offer higher speed service with lower prices. Unlimited, open usage plans offered by other providers typically employ network controls to slow down high usage customers. We encourage consumers to be informed about their use of high speed internet and respect bandwidth resources through responsible self-policing of their network usage. Hidden viruses, unsecured wireless routers and open-upload file sharing are leading causes of overages and have little or no value to the customer paying the bill. Customers can monitor their data transfer at http://myaccount.ctvea.net (you must have a valid CTVEA email account to use this feature). PerformancePlease note that our services are described as offering “up to” certain download and upload speeds. While we engineer our network to achieve the speeds for each of the service tiers we offer, we cannot guarantee that customers will always experience those speeds. Speeds can vary depending on variables including the following: 1. Performance of a customer’s computer, including its age, processing capability, its operating system, the number of applications running simultaneously, and the presence of any adware or viruses. 2. Type of connection between a customer’s computer and modem. For example, wireless connections may be slower than direct connections into a router or modem. Wireless connections also may be subject to greater fluctuations, interference and congestion. 3. The distance packets travel (round trip time of packets) between a customer's computer and its final destination on the Internet, including the number and quality of the networks of various operators in the transmission path. A customer’s connection may traverse the networks of multiple providers before reaching its destination, and the limitations of those networks will most likely affect the overall speed of that Internet connection. 4. If a large number of visitors are accessing a site or particular destination at the same time, your connection will be affected if the site or destination does not have sufficient capacity to serve all of the visitors efficiently. Congestion can also occur when our customers served by the same facilities simultaneously request high volumes of data, such as peak usage hours during the evening. 5. In order to control traffic or performance, many websites limit the speeds at which a visitor can download from their site. Those limitations will carry through to a user’s connection. 6. Modem performance may degrade over time, and certain modems are not capable of handling higher speeds. Customers may test service speeds using commercial speed tests available online, such as http://www.broadband.gov/qualitytest/about. However, commercial speed tests may not measure certain “overhead” associated with transmission which includes packets that provide routing information. We estimate that speed tests that do not account for overhead will suggest to customers that they are receiving approximately 10 to 15 percent less than the advertised maximum speed, absent other factors discussed above. Moreover, all speed tests have biases and flaws, and should be considered only as informational and not a reflection of actual performance. While we do not believe these third party tests reliably measure the speed of your service, if you are consistently testing substantially below your package speed, please contact us for assistance. Subject to the factors above, the typical performance of our Internet services will approximate the national wireline broadband Internet speed and latency levels reported by the FCC. The FCC has reported that customers of coaxial cable-based broadband Internet services experience an average latency of 28 milliseconds, and receive mean download speeds that are within 93% of maximum advertised speeds during non-peak hours and mean download speeds of 85.7% of maximum advertised speeds during peak hours of 7 pm to 11 pm. Additional information about this FCC report is available at http://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/measuringbroadbandreport/Measuring_U.S._-_Main_Report_Full.pdf. Your use of our telephone services does not materially affect your Internet performance. If we deliver other Internet Protocol based services or any specialized or managed services in the future that would likely affect your Internet services, we will provide additional information as appropriate. Network Management We engage in network management practices in order to provide quality Internet access service including during periods of high demand, and to protect us and our customers from harmful content such as malware, spam, and viruses. We attempt to block commonly known malware and malicious ports and protocols to protect customers from viruses and other harmful content. Our network utilizes shared resources, so heavy use by a single customer could degrade the service available to all of the other customers in the same area. In order to protect the availability of quality service for the most users, our system identifies the heaviest bandwidth users (based upon download and upload usage measured in Megabytes, 1 Megabyte (MB) = 8 megabits (Mb)) and slows their speed for a period of ninety minutes. The threshold to identify such heavy users depends upon your service tier and the time of day, as follows:
In rare cases we may take other corrective action including suspension of service or requesting that you subscribe to a version of the Service (such as a commercial grade Internet service, if appropriate) after providing written notice to a customer who has violated the terms of service or has used the service in a manner that is not characteristic of a typical residential user as determined by the company in its sole discretion. Our telephone service traffic is prioritized to ensure voice quality and phone functionality. Except as specifically described above, at this time we do not target specific types of traffic based on their technology or their provider, modify protocol fields in ways not prescribed by the protocol standard, inhibit or favor certain applications or classes of applications, block or manage any specific protocols or protocol ports, or engage in other types of congestion management. Commercial Terms of Service and Privacy Policies Your service is subject to our terms of service, posted at http://www.ctvea.net/termsofuse.html. Residential Internet Service is for personal and non-commercial residential use only. Customers may not resell, share, or otherwise distribute the Services or any portion thereof to any third party, or use the services to provide network services to others, without our written consent. For example, you cannot provide Internet access to others outside of your household or your business through a wireless connection, host shell accounts over the Internet, provide email or news service, or send a news feed without our written permission. You must also ensure that your use of the Service does not restrict, inhibit, interfere with, or degrade any other person's use of the Service or our ability to deliver the Services and monitor the Services, backbone, network nodes, and/or other network services. We do not store usage data, provide any information about customers’ usage to any third party, or engage in deep packet inspection or any other inspection of content or usage data for non-network purposes, except to the extent required by applicable law. Equipment You may lease modems from us, or obtain a DOCSIS, compatible modem from a third party. We lease standard modems for $3 per month. Residential customers may not connect any type of server to their service. |