General Terms and Conditions

 

Independents Fiber Network dba Bright Long Distance (BLD) will comply with all applicable rules as set forth in Ohio Administrative Code (O.A.C.). 

Undertaking of Bright Long Distance 

BLD’s services and facilities are furnished for communications within the State of Ohio under terms of contained within the description of these terms and conditions. The Company’s services and facilities are available twenty-four (24) hours per day, seven (7) days per week.

 BLD arranges for installation, operation, and maintenance of the communications services provided in these terms and conditions for Customers in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth here. BLD may act as the Customer’s agent for ordering access connection facilities provided by other carriers or entities, when authorized by the Customer, to allow connection of a Customer’s location to the BLD network.

 Use

Services provided under these terms and conditions may be used by the Customer for any lawful telecommunications purpose for which the service is technically suited.

 Limitations

1.     Service is offered subject to the availability of the necessary facilities and/or equipment and subject to the provisions of these terms and conditions. The Company may decline applications for service to or from a location where the necessary facilities or equipment are not available. The Company may discontinue furnishing service in accordance with these terms and conditions.

 

2.     The Company reserves the right to discontinue service when necessitated by conditions beyond its control, or when the Customer is using the service in violation of the provisions of these terms and conditions, or in violation of the law.

 

3.     The Company does not undertake to transmit messages, but offers the use of its facilities when available, and will not be liable for errors in transmission or for failure to establish connection.

 

4.     The Company reserves the right to discontinue service, limit service, or to impose requirements on Customers as required to meet changing regulatory or statutory rules and standards, or when such rules and standards have an adverse material effect on the business or economic feasibility of providing service, as determined by BLD in its reasonable judgment.

 Assignment or Transfer

All service provided under these terms and conditions is directly or indirectly controlled by the Company and neither the Customer nor its Authorized Users may transfer or assign the use of service without the express prior written consent of the Company. Such transfer or assignment shall only apply where there is no interruption of the use or location of service. All terms and conditions contained in these terms and conditions shall apply to all such permitted transferees or assignees, as well as all conditions of service.

Liability

 

1.     The liability of the Company for damages of any nature arising from errors, mistakes, omissions, interruptions, or delays of the Company, its agents, servants, or employees, in the course of establishing, furnishing, rearranging, moving, terminating, maintaining, restoring, or changing the service or facilities or equipment shall not exceed an amount equal to the charges applicable under these terms and conditions (calculated on a proportionate basis where appropriate) to the period during which such error, mistake, omission, interruption or delay occurs.

 

2.     In no event shall the Company be liable for any incidental, indirect, special, or consequential damages (including lost revenue or profits) of any kind whatsoever regardless of the cause or foreseeability thereof.

 

3.     When the services or facilities of other common carriers are used separately or in conjunction with the Company’s facilities or equipment in establishing connection to points not reached by the Company’s facilities or equipment, the Company shall not be liable for any act or omission of such other common carriers or their agents, servants or employees.

 

4.     The Company shall not be liable for any failure of performance hereunder if such failure is due to any cause or causes beyond the reasonable control of the Company. Such causes shall include, without limitation, acts of God, fire, explosion, vandalism, cable cut, storm or other similar occurrence, any law, order, regulation, direction, action or request of the United States government or of any other government or of any civil or military authority, national emergencies, insurrections, riots, wars, strikes, lockouts or work stoppages or other labor difficulties, supplier failures, shortages, breaches or delays, or preemption of existing service to restore service in compliance with the Commission’s Rules and Regulations.

 

5.     The Company shall not be liable for interruptions, delays, errors, or defects in transmission, or for any injury whatsoever, caused by the Customer, the Customer’s agents, or Authorized Users, or by facilities or equipment provided by the Customer.

           

6.     The Customer shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Company (including the costs of reasonable attorney’s fees) against:

 

a.     Claims for libel, slander, infringement of copyright or unauthorized use of any trademark, trade name or service mark arising out of the material, data, information, or other content transmitted over the Company’s facilities or equipment;

 

b.     Claims for patent infringement arising from combining or connecting the Company’s facilities or equipment with facilities, equipment, apparatus or systems of the Customer; and

 

c.     All other claims (including, without limitation, claims for damage to any business or property, or injury to, or death of, any person) arising out of any act or omission of the Customer, the Customer’s agents or Authorized Users, in connection with any service or facilities or equipment provided by the Company.

 Minimum Period

The minimum period for which services are provided and for which rates and charges are applicable is one (1) month unless otherwise specified in these terms and conditions or by mutually agreed upon contract. When a service is discontinued prior to the expiration of the minimum period, charges are applicable, whether the service is used or not.

 Billing and Payment for Service

 

1.              Responsibility for Charges

                         Charges for installation, service connections, moves, rearrangements, and prepaid services, where applicable, are payable upon demand to the Company or its authorized agent. Billing thereafter will include recurring charges and actual usage as defined in these terms and conditions.

                         The Customer is responsible for payment of all charges for services and equipment furnished to the Customer for transmission of calls via the Company.

 

2.              Payment for Service

                         All charges due by the Customer are payable to the Company or any agent duly authorized to receive such payments. Any objections to billed charges must be promptly reported to the Company or its billing agent. Adjustments to Customers’ bills shall be made to the extent that circumstances exist which reasonably indicate that such changes are appropriate.

 

3.              Late Payment Fees

                         The Company reserves the right to assess a late payment fee of 1.5% per month on any past due balance.

 

4.              Return Check Charge

                         The Company reserves the right to assess a return check charge of $20.00 whenever a check or draft presented for payment of service is not accepted by the institution upon which it is written.

 

 Advance Payments

For Customers whom the Company determines an advance payment is necessary, BLD reserves the right to collect an amount not to exceed two (2) months estimated charges as an advance payment for service. This will be applied against the next month’s charges and a new advance payment may be collected for the next month, if necessary.

 

Taxes and Fees

The Company reserves the right to bill any and all applicable taxes and fees in addition to normal rates and charges for services provided to the customer. Taxes and fees include, but are not limited to: Federal Excise Tax, State Sales Tax, Municipal Tax, and CAT. Such taxes and fees are in addition to rates as quoted in these terms and conditions and will be itemized separately on Customer invoices.

 Terminal Equipment

The Company’s facilities and service may be used with or terminated in terminal equipment or communications systems such as a PBX, key system, single line telephone, or pay telephone. Such terminal equipment shall be furnished and maintained at the expense of the Customer. The Customer is responsible for all costs at his or her premises, including personnel, wiring, electrical power, and the like, incurred in the use of BLD’s service. When such terminal equipment is used, the equipment shall comply with the generally accepted minimum protective criteria standards of the telecommunications industry.

 Interconnection

1.     Service furnished by the Company may be interconnected with services or facilities of other authorized communications common carriers and with private systems, subject to technical limitations established by the Company. Service furnished by the Company is not part of a joint undertaking with such other common carriers or systems. The Company does not undertake to provide any special facilities, equipment, or services to enable the Customer to interconnect the facilities or the equipment of the Company with services or facilities of other common carriers or with private systems.

2.     Interconnection with the services or facilities of other common carriers shall be under the applicable terms and conditions of these terms and conditions and the other common carrier’s tariffs.

 

Inspection, Testing and Adjustment

The Company may, upon reasonable notice, make such tests and inspections as may be necessary to determine whether these terms and conditions are being complied with in the installation, operation or maintenance of the Customer’s or the Company’s facilities or equipment. The Company may interrupt service at any time, without penalty or liability, due to the departure from or reasonable suspicion of the departure from any of these terms and conditions.

 

Credit Allowances for Interruption of Service

Credit allowances for interruptions of service which are not due to the Company’s inspection or testing, to the negligence of the Customer, or to the failure of channels, equipment and/or communications systems provided by the Customer, are subject to the general liability provisions set forth in these terms and conditions.

It shall be the obligation of the Customer to notify the Company immediately of any interruption in service for which a credit allowance is desired by Customer. Before giving such notice, the Customer shall ascertain that the trouble is not within his or her control, or is not in wiring or equipment, if any, furnished by Customer.

For purposes of credit computation every month shall be considered to have 30 days. The Customer shall be credited for an interruption of one day (24 hours) or more at the rate of 1/30th of the monthly charge for the services affected for each day that the interruption continues.

              Credit Formula:

            Credit = A/30 x B

A = outage time in days

B = total monthly charge for affected service.

 Cancellation by the Customer

The Customer may have service discontinued upon written notice to the Company. The Company shall hold the Customer responsible for payment of all bills for service furnished until the cancellation date specified by the Customer or until the date that the written cancellation notice is received, whichever is later.

 Refusal or Discontinuance by the Company

Service continues to be provided until canceled by the Customer, in writing, or until discontinued by the Company as set forth below. The Company may render bills subsequent to the termination of service for charges incurred before termination.

 

1.     For Returned Checks: The Customer whose check or draft is returned unpaid for any reason, after two attempts at collection, shall be subject to discontinuance of service in the same manner as provided for nonpayment of overdue charges.

 

2.     For Lack of Use: The Company, by written notice to the Customer, may discontinue service in the same manner as provided for nonpayment of overdue charges if after sixty (60) days the service has not been used.

 

3.     For any violation of law or of any of the provisions governing the furnishing of service under these terms and conditions: The Customer shall be subject to discontinuance of service, without notice, for any violation of any law, rule, regulation or policy of any government authority having jurisdiction over service, or by reason of any order or decision of a court or other government authority having jurisdiction which prohibits the Company from furnishing such service.

 

4.     For the Company to comply with any order or request of any governmental authority having jurisdiction: The Customer shall be subject to discontinuance of service, without notice, for the Company to comply with any order or request of any governmental authority having jurisdiction.

  Restoration of Service

If service has been discontinued for nonpayment or as otherwise provided herein and the Customer wishes it continued, service shall, at the Company’s discretion, be restored when all past due amounts are paid or the event giving rise to the discontinuance (if other than nonpayment) is corrected.

Use of Recording Devices

Customers and Authorized Users who use recording devices do so at their own risk. A Customer or Authorized User may only use a recording device if the Customer or Authorized User complies with the requirements of this section and only if the Customer or Authorized User is able to connect or disconnect the recording device, or turn the recording device on or off, at will.

 

1.     A Customer or Authorized User may record a conversation if the Customer or Authorized User obtains written or verbal consent to the recording of all parties to the conversation prior to or at the beginning of the conversation.

 

2.     A distinctive recorder tone must be repeated at intervals of approximately fifteen (15) seconds to alert all parties to the conversation that a recording device is being used.

 

3.     The requirements of the two previously mentioned conditions are waived for Broadcast licensees who use a recording device to record a conversation for broadcast if all parties to the conversation are aware that the conversation will be broadcast.

 

4.     A Customer or Authorized User who records a conversation must comply with all applicable State and Federal regulations.

 Toll Blocking Policy

Bright Long Distance may cause to have blocked, access to all toll providers for nonpayment of regulated toll charges, so long as the blocked customer is not denied the right to select, through a presubscribed interexchange change (PIC) mechanism, any other 1+ presubscribed toll service provider who is obligated to provide such service under the terms of the Selective Access Policy.

Under the terms of the Selective Access Policy, Bright Long Distance may not deny establishment of 1+ presubscribed toll service on the grounds that the customer has failed to establish creditworthiness, if:

a.     the customer is able to establish creditworthiness using one of the means for doing so available under the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s (PUCO) rules, or

b.     Bright Long Distance, exercising its own discretion, does not require the customer to establish creditworthiness (through any of the means available for doing so under the PUCO’s rules), or

c.     Bright Long Distance attempts to require the customer to establish creditworthiness using credit establishment procedures which do not comport with the PUCO’s credit establishment policies and/or are not set forth within a PUCO approved tariff.

Bright Long Distance may furnish credit information, acquired from the Company’s own experiences with the customer, to consumer reporting agencies within the meaning of the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Company will follow all requirements that consumer reporting agencies must follow in issuing credit reports within the meaning of the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

 

SERVICE DESCRIPTIONS AND RATES

 

General

 BLD offers direct dialed (1+) service, inbound toll-free number service and travel card services for communications originating and terminating within the State of Ohio under terms contained within the description of these terms and conditions.

 

Customers are billed based on their use of Bright Long Distance’s network and services. Charges may vary by service offering, mileage band, class of call, time of day, day of week, and/or call duration.

 

Timing of Calls

Billing for calls placed over the BLD network is based in part on the duration of the call as follows, unless otherwise specified in these terms and conditions:

 

1.     Call timing begins when the called party answers the call (i.e., when two way communications are established.) Answer detection is based on standard industry answer detection methods, including hardware and software answer detection.

2.     Chargeable time for calls ends when one of the parties disconnects from the call.

3.     For billing purposes, minimum call duration periods vary by service and are specified by product or option in subsequent sections of these terms and conditions.

4.     For billing purposes, usage after the initial period varies by service and is specified by product or option in subsequent sections of these terms and conditions.

5.     The Company will not bill for unanswered calls. When a Customer indicates that he/she was billed for an incomplete call, BLD will reasonably issue credit for the call.