Agreement for Broadband Access

This Broadband Access Agreement between Highland Telephone Cooperative (HTC) and the Member is effective on the date the service becomes available to the Member.

HTC will provide Member a dedicated connection to the Broadband from a Point of Presence (POP). The Member will pay HTC according to prevalent rate schedules during the term of service plus a one-time setup fee. Setup fees are non-refundable.

HTC will advise the Member on the requirements necessary to provide the connection. The demarcation point is considered to be the NID at the Member’s site. HTC is not responsible or liable for installing hardware and/or software in Member’s computer or reconfiguration of network settings due to, but not limited to: tampering, reinstallation of operating system, accidental removal, and moving the hardware to another computer.

HTC’s Broadband Access is an end user product and no resale is allowed. All applicable federal and provincial taxes shall be added to the amounts payable and shall be paid by the Member to HTC.

The Member will be billed for Broadband service on his/her monthly telephone service bill. Monthly service bills are mailed by the first of each month and are due on the 20th of that month. The 20th is the due date regardless of whether it falls on a weekend or a holiday. Payments mailed prior to the 20th but not received by 4:30 p.m. on the 20th will be assessed a late charge of 1.5%. Payments will be recorded through the 20th of each month and any accounts paid after the 20th will appear on the following month’s bill as a past due amount. When the Member’s bill becomes past due, 31 or more days, and the past due amount is $50 or greater, notification is sent to the Member informing them that they have until the 20th of the current month to pay the delinquent amount or, they will face termination of service. This notification appears on the Member’s regular monthly billing and specifically states the past due amount to be paid in order to prevent services from being terminated. If a Member’s service has been terminated or suspended for nonpayment, any payment received on the account will first, be applied to local service and second, be applied to the previous outstanding balance owed for long distance services. Local service will be reconnected upon full payment of the outstanding balance due for past-due local services. Long distance services shall remain suspended or terminated until such time that the past due balance for long distance services is paid in full.

Member is responsible for notifying HTC of Member wish to terminate Member’s account if desired. Charges will continue to accrue until Member notification to HTC of account termination, or until Member’s account is cancelled due to non-payment. Upon disconnection of service, all LAN equipment connected to the Member side of the Modem/ONT is the property of the Member. HTC will not reimburse Member for this equipment. The fiber optic Modem/ONT remains property of HTC, and should remain in the house or business after service termination.

Routine maintenance and periodic system repairs, upgrades and reconfiguration, public emergency or necessity, force major, restrictions imposed by law, acts of God, labor disputes and other situations, including mechanical or electronic breakdowns may result in temporary impairment or interruption of service. As a result, HTC does not guarantee continuous or uninterrupted service and reserves the right from time to time to temporarily hold HTC and it’s directors, officers, employees, and agents harmless from any and all obligations, charge claims, liabilities, and fees incurred as a result of interruptions or omissions of service.

All services provided by HTC’s Broadband Service are governed by the Acceptable Use Policy.

Warranty Disclaimer

Highland Telephone Cooperative (HTC) Broadband services are provided on an “as is, as available” basis. HTC disclaims any and all warranties with regard to the services (whether express or implied), including without limitation:

• Any implied warranties of merchant ability, fitness for a particular purpose, infringement or title.
• Any warranty of quality, functionality, operability, use or performance of the services.
• Any warranty of the accuracy, completeness or validity of the data or information communicated through the services.
• Any warranty of the continuous availability of the services, or that the services will be uninterrupted or error free.

Limitation of Liability

Under no circumstances and under no legal theory (whether tort, contract or otherwise) shall HTC be liable for any indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for business interruption, computer failure or malfunctions, loss of profits, goodwill, or information or any other pecuniary loss or damage) arising out of or relating to HTC Broadband services (including, without limitation, use or inability to use the services).

Under no circumstances shall HTC cumulative liability to member exceed the service charges paid by member to HTC for the services during the 6 months immediately preceding the event for which liability is claimed.

Neither HTC nor its Information Providers are responsible for any damages or injuries arising from Member’s use of HTC Broadband Services or inability to use HTC Broadband Services.

HTC is not responsible for undelivered e-mail. There is no guarantee of message receipt or delivery. Return receipts may be requested, but there is no guarantee that the recipient’s e-mail system will honor such requests.

Member is hereby warned that some sites accessible via HTC Broadband Services allow posting, viewing, retrieval, and/or electronic mailing of materials that may be considered obscene, offensive, inaccurate, incomplete, defamatory, harmful or objectionable. HTC is not responsible for Member’s inadvertent or deliberate access to such material and cannot prevent access of such materials.

Operation

HTC reserves the right to change its services without notice including but not limited to access procedures, hours of operation, menu structures, commands, documentation, and services offered.

Member understands that HTC’s service may be interrupted for several reasons, including but not limited to malfunctions, maintenance, and improvement or as required to protect network resources in the event of malfunctions or misuse. Member understands that it may not receive advance notification of any such interruption of service. Scheduled outages will be publicized.

HTC shall not be liable for any delay in or failure to perform the services caused by circumstances entirely beyond its control such as those occasioned by acts of God or other causes or which it could not have reasonably foreseen or any other cause which similarly impedes the providing of service.

Member agrees to abide by the Terms & Conditions as set forth in this Agreement. HTC, at its sole judgment, may immediately suspend Member’s access to the services upon any breach of any of the Terms and Conditions by Member including, but not limited to, refusal or failure to pay for services provided or disruptive online behavior.

HTC may modify these Terms and Conditions upon published notice. Member’s use of HTC Broadband Service after such notice shall constitute Client’s acceptance of such modifications.