Network Management

NETWORK MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES POLICY DISCLOSURE
Pursuant to the Federal Communications Commission’s newly enacted Open Internet Rules found in Part 8 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, BTC Communications’ policies regarding network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms are provided in entirety so that BTC Communications’ current customers, prospective customers, third-party content providers and other interested parties can make informed choices regarding the broadband Internet transport services offered by BTC Communications , and the extent BTC Communications’ network management practices may affect those services.

Network Management Practices
BTC Communications utilizes reasonable network management practices tailored to achieve legitimate network management purposes. By engaging in reasonable and responsible network management, BTC Communications prevents its customers from being subjected to the negative effects of spam, viruses, security attacks and other risks that threaten to degrade service. The network management practices employed by BTC Communications are consistent with industry standards.BTC Communications’ uses various tools and industry standard techniques to manage its network and deliver fast, secure and reliable Internet service. BTC Communications’ believes in full transparency and provides the following disclosures about its network management practices:

1. Blocking: BTC Communications’ does not block or discriminate against lawful content.

2. Throttling: BTC Communications’ does not throttle, impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic.

3. Affiliated Prioritization: BTC Communications’ does not prioritize Internet traffic and has no plans to do so.

4. Paid Prioritization: BTC Communications’ has never engaged in paid prioritization. We don’t prioritize Internet for consideration to benefit particular content, applications, services or devices. BTC Communications’ does not have plans to enter into paid prioritization deals to create fast lanes.

5. Congestion Management: BTC Communications’ monitors the connections on its network in the aggregate on a daily basis to determine the rate of utilization. If congestion emerges on the network, BTC Communications’ will take the appropriate measures to relieve congestion.
On BTC Communications’ network, all customers have access to all legal services, applications and content online and, in the event of congestion, most Internet activities will be unaffected. Some customers, however, may experience longer download or upload times, or slower surf speeds on the web if instances of congestion do occur on BTC Communications’’s network.
Customers using conduct that abuses or threatens the BTC Communications’ network or which violates the company’s Acceptable Use Policy, Internet service Terms and Conditions, or the Internet Service Agreement will be asked to stop any such use immediately. A failure to respond or to cease any such conduct could result in service suspension or termination.
BTC Communications’ network and congestion management practices are ‘application-agnostic’, based on current network conditions, and are not implemented on the basis of customers’ online activities, protocols or applications. BTC Communications’ network management practices do not relate to any particular customer’s aggregate monthly data usage.
BTC Communications’ monitors its network on a daily basis to determine utilization on its network. BTC Communications’ also checks for abnormal traffic flows, network security breaches, malware, loss, and damage to the network. If a breach is detected or high volume users are brought to light by complaint, BTC Communications’provides notification to the customer via email or phone. If a violation of BTC Communications’policies has occurred and such violation is not remedied, BTC Communications’ will seek to suspend or terminate that customer’s service.

6. Application-Specific Behavior: Except as may be provided elsewhere herein, BTC Communications’ does not currently engage in any application-specific behaviors on its network. Customers may use any lawful applications with BTC Communications’.

7. Device Attachment Rules: Customers must use PPPoE , or DHCP authentication of point to point connections between devices on the network. For best results, DSL modems, wireless modems, or other proprietary network gateways used on the BTC Communications’ broadband network should be provided by BTC Communications’. Customers may attach devices of their choosing to their modems, including wired or wireless routers, laptops, desktop computers, video game systems, televisions, or other network-enabled electronics equipment. However, customers are responsible for ensuring that their equipment does not harm BTC Communications’’s network or impair the service of other customers. BTC Communications’ is not responsible for the functionality or compatibility of any equipment provided by its customers. Customers are responsible for securing their own equipment to prevent unauthorized access to BTC Communications’’s broadband network by third parties and will be held responsible for the actions of such third parties who gain unauthorized access through unsecured customer equipment.

8. Network Security: BTC Communications’ knows the importance of securing its network and customers from network threats and annoyances. The company promotes the security of its network and patrons by protections from such threats as spam, viruses, firewall issues, and phishing schemes. BTC Communications’ also deploys spam filters in order to divert spam from an online customer’s email inbox into a quarantine file while allowing the customer to control which emails are identified as spam. Customers may access the spam files through the email. Spam files are automatically deleted if not accessed within 30 days.
As its normal practice, BTC Communications’ does not block any protocols, content or traffic for purposes of network management, but BTC Communications’ may block or limit such traffic as spam, viruses, malware, or denial of service attacks to protect network integrity and the security of our customers.

Performance Characteristics

BTC Communications offers broadband Internet access service via FTTH /Fiber to the Home. FTTH is a wireline transmission technology that transmits data faster over fiber optic lines installed to homes and businesses.

The advertised speed of our Internet service is the maximum speed achievable with the technology utilized. While the maximum advertised speed is attainable for end users, several factors may affect the actual speed of Internet service offerings, including, but not limited to: the end user’s computer, modem or router, and other Internet traffic, particularly traffic at the busy websites that are not equipped to handle large volumes of traffic.

Commercial Terms
In order to meet the usage and budgetary needs of all of our customers, BTC Communications offers a wide selection of broadband Internet access plan options, bundled service choices, and ala carte alternatives.

To see our pricing on broadband Internet access service, please call 419-657-2221 to speak with a customer service representative.

Internet service is priced on a flat-fee basis (plus taxes-if applicable). BTC Communications does not charge end users a usage-based fee for Internet service.

Privacy Policy
The various network management tools and techniques utilized by BTC Communications do not monitor, inspect or store the network activity and traffic of its Internet service users. Further, as part of its network management practices, BTC Communications does not distribute information on network activity and/or traffic to any third party, or use network traffic information for any non-network management purpose.

BTC Communications affords full access to all lawful content, services and applications available on the Internet and does not routinely monitor, inspect or store the network activity and traffic of its Internet service users. However, BTC Communications reserves the right to monitor bandwidth, usage, transmissions and content for purposes of protecting the integrity of the network and BTC Communications’ Internet access service through reasonable network management practices.

Redress Options Policy
If you have any questions or concerns regarding BTC Communications’ High-Speed Internet services and the subjects of this disclosure, you may send an email to:

bucktel@ohiolink.net

Please include the following information:

Subject Line: Internet Management Disclosure
Name: (Optional)
High-Speed Internet Service Address
A brief summary of the nature of your concern
BTC Communications takes all such questions and concerns seriously. The appropriate BTC Communications’ personnel will review all such submissions and respond in a timely manner.

All of the preceding is subject to the needs of law enforcement. BTC Communications does not favor any lawful Internet applications or content over others, and is committed to enabling competition among network providers, application and service providers, and content providers.