Fair Use Policy for DSL
Why is there a need for a Fair Usage Policy?
In-tech Telecom is committed to providing Customers with a high quality service suitable for business use, at a competitive price. To achieve this, In-tech Telecom uses a network that only carries data for businesses (which send and receive far less data than residential users, subsequently using less bandwidth/network resource). The available bandwidth is managed carefully and very closely. As with all Broadband offerings the available bandwidth is contended across all users; if a group of users use a disproportionately large amount of bandwidth (i.e. transfer a disproportionately large amount of data) then this will:
- Impact the available bandwidth for the rest of the users
- Potentially degrade the service
- Drive up the cost of In-tech Telecom delivering the service
It is a well known fact among ISPs that on badly managed networks 1% of Customers can utilise in excess of 30% of the available bandwidth. As In-tech Telecom provides an un-metered service (whereby we do not charge by the amount of data transferred) it is important that we ensure that all Customers use the service fairly. Ultimately, providing a poor quality of service is not an option for us, so unfair and disproportionate use of the Broadband service would lead to an increase in price across all users. To ensure that we maintain a high quality service at a competitive price, a FAIR USAGE POLICY applies to all users.
How could this policy affect you?
It must be emphasised that the vast majority of In-tech Telecom Broadband subscribers will remain unaffected by this policy. Customers that will be affected, are those using file sharing software such as peer-to-peer and binary newsgroups (USENET). Such software (for residential applications) is typically used to send and receive large files (such as music and videos) and can be left running throughout the day – this unreasonable use of the internet uses a massive amount of bandwidth and in many cases is illegal.
Customers using their Broadband service for sending emails, browsing web pages and other typical business applications will not be affected.
What is the policy?
A fair usage threshold has been set for the In-tech Telecom Broadband portfolio as follows:
- Standard ADSL Services (all speeds) are not expected to transfer more than 30 Gigabytes of data during the course of a month.
- ADSL Max Services are not expected to transfer more than 40 Gigabytes of data during the course of a month.
- SDSL Services are not expected to download more than 100 Gigabytes of data during the course of a month.
If a subscriber is expected to exceed the relevant limit for a given month then we will be in contact to advise that a usage modification or product upgrade is necessary. Where the usage level is not modified and the subscriber exceeds our defined limits, the service will be restricted – we will make available less bandwidth for this subscription. This restriction will be placed on the service for the remainder of the month and will be subsequently lifted after this period. If the limit is exceeded for the subsequent month, the restriction will be applied once more. Customers using standard ADSL services will have the option to regrade to an ADSL Max service in order to take advantage of the higher limit for this service type. Once a service has been regraded the restriction will be lifted.
What will be the effect of a service restriction?
When a service restriction is applied, the subscriber will experience a slowing down of their service. The extent of this degradation will depend on what the connection is being used for. For web browsing, and reading emails, only a marginal slowing of the service will be noticeable. Where Peer-to-Peer or file sharing software is utilised, or where files are downloaded from the internet or external server, a significantly slower service will be experienced.
What can a Subscriber do with 10 Gigabytes of data transfer?
A Subscriber can:
- Send and receive a total of 100,000 emails
- View over 100,000 standard web pages
- Transfer over 10,000 1mb files, or
- Make 80,000 minutes worth of FeaturePlus (IP) calls
Applicable Products
The Fair Usage Policy applies to all ADSL and SDSL product variants.
Policy Changes
In-tech Telecom reserve the right to amend this Fair Usage Policy in line with changes in the Internet Service Provider Sector. New versions of the FUP will be introduced at a rate of no more than one per calendar quarter, with the most recent version always being available on the In-tech Telecom website at: www.Intechtelecom.co.uk/fairusagepolicy
For further information regarding In-tech Telecom Products and Services, please contact your Account Manager today on 08700 60 70 60 or email: sales@In-tech Telecom.co.uk