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Recommended Open Internet Disclosures for MB Resellers

Effective Date: December 2015INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO RESELLER:

 

Broadband wireless services are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). One regulation applicable to resellers, like you, requires that you disclose certain practices to your customers. While we are not taking any responsibility for your regulatory compliance, as a courtesy, we recommend that you make effective disclosures to your customers of certain practices in accordance with the FCC’s Transparency Rule, set forth at 47 CFR 8.3. These are your regulatory responsibilities rather than Mobile Beacon’s because you have the direct relationship with the end-users.

 

The Transparency Rule requires broadband service providers to “publicly disclose accurate information regarding the network management practices, performance, and commercial terms” of their broadband Internet access service. The purpose of the FCC’s Transparency Rule as applied to broadband providers like you is to provide consumers with information on your services “sufficient for consumers to make informed choices regarding the use of such services….” To that end, we recommend that you provide the following written disclosures to customers, along with such further disclosures as you may deem necessary or advisable in accordance with the Transparency Rule.

 

In making disclosures, the FCC has stated that it expects “advertisements and other public statements that broadband Internet access providers make about their services [to be] accurate and consistent with any official disclosures that providers post on their websites or make available in stores or over the phone.” Thus, “a provider making an inaccurate assertion about its service performance in an advertisement, where the description is most likely to be seen by consumers, could not defend itself against a Transparency Rule violation by pointing to an ‘accurate’ official disclosure in some other public place.” We regard this as common sense, but we still want to point it out to you.

 

The disclosures below primarily address how our current provider, Sprint, presently offers and manages the Service. Mobile Beacon cannot and does not represent that these disclosures will provide a complete or entirely accurate summary of these Sprint practices, as we are dependent for this information upon what Sprint tells us and what information Sprint publishes on its website, which website information may not apply to the Service. To reiterate, this recommendation is provided as a courtesy only, and without any warranty expressed or implied that the disclosures are sufficient, complete or entirely accurate. Please also note that the provider is subject to change.

 

The FCC requires that you provide these or similar disclosures at the point of sale and they also should appear on your website. The practice of commercial broadband providers is to separately state these policies in an “Open Internet Information” webpage or contract attachment.

 

The FCC, as you would expect, requires you to maintain the continuing accuracy of these disclosures. In the event that you become aware of a change in any statement made in these disclosures, you must inform users of these changes. The FCC expects such information on changes to be disseminated within a reasonable period of time following the changes but has not defined an outer time limit for such dissemination.

 

Recommended Open Internet Disclosures for Mobile Beacon Resellers:

 

IMPORTANT INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO CUSTOMER:

 

WE ARE MERELY A RESELLER OF INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDED BY A THIRD-PARTY PROVIDER (THE “PROVIDER”), WHICH IS CURRENTLY SPRINT SPECTRUM, L.P. OR AN AFFILIATE THEREOF BUT IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME. WE DO NOT CONTROL THE SERVICE. CARRIER PRACTICES WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE ARE CONTROLLED BY THE PROVIDER, INCLUDING PRACTICES WITH RESPECT TO DATA CAPS AND ALLOWANCES; PRIVACY POLICIES; NETWORK CONGESTION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES; THE BLOCKING OR RATE-CONTROLLING OF SPECIFIC PROTOCOLS; THE INHIBITION OR FAVORING OF SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS; NETWORK SECURITY PROTECTIONS; AND THE ATTRIBUTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SERVICE. CARRIERS LIKE THE PROVIDER ARE REQUIRED BY THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (“FCC”) TO PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF DISCLOSURES TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.

 

UNDER EACH CATEGORY OF DISCLOSURE SHOWN BELOW, WE INFORM YOU OF OUR INVOLVEMENT (IF ANY) IN THE ACTS OR PRACTICES CONTAINED IN THAT CATEGORY AND WE DIRECT YOU TO CERTAIN PROVIDER DISCLOSURES ON ITS WEBSITE FOR ITS DISCLOSURES WITH RESPECT TO SUCH CATEGORIES. WE OFFER NO WARRANTY AS TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE PROVIDER’S DISCLOSURES REFERRED TO BELOW. WE DO NOT CONTROL THOSE DISCLOSURES AND HAVE NO OR VERY LIMITED ACCESS TO THE DATA OR ACTIVITIES UNDERLYING THOSE PRACTICES.

 

DISCLOSURES:

 

Service Description:
1. We are providing you (“you” or “Customer”) an Internet access service (“Service”). We are not providing you with any applications (such as Internet telephone or cable TV) that might be provided with INTERNET service by other vendors. We are not involved in the creation or the provisioning of the Service. Instead, we resell the Service provided to us indirectly by the Provider.

 

2. The Provider provides the Service over its wireless network, using cell sites and frequencies licensed by the FCC. The Service is not available in all locations and you will only be able to access the Service when within the operating range of the Provider’s network, which may change from time in the sole discretion of the Provider. The Service may be disrupted or unavailable from time to time due to maintenance, emergencies, inclement weather or other factors outside of our or Mobile Beacon’s control. The Service and the related equipment needed to use the Service (“Equipment”) may not function in the event of a power failure or disruption, and you may be required to reset or reconfigure your modem or other hardware in order to use the Service thereafter. We and Mobile Beacon assume no liability with regard to any failure or lack of performance of the Service.

 

3. Use of the Service is subject to the Provider’s then-current (i) acceptable use policy (the “Provider AUP”), a copy of which is, as of the date of this disclosure, available at http://www.sprint.com/legal/agreement.html?INTNAV=CMS:LGL:Acceptable_Use_Policy#acceptable and incorporated herein by reference; and (ii) end user terms and conditions (the “Provider T&C”), a copy of which is, as of the date of this disclosure, available at http://www.sprint.com/termsandconditions and incorporated herein by reference. The Provider reserves the right to change its AUP or T&C at any time.

 

4. THE SERVICE MAY BE SUBJECT TO USAGE LIMITS ESTABLISHED BY THE PROVIDER, WHICH ARE NOT CONTROLLED BY US OR MOBILE Beacon AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. WE AND MOBILE Beacon MAY NOT RECEIVE ADVANCE NOTICE OF ANY SUCH CHANGES FROM THE PROVIDER AND IN SUCH CASES WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU ADVANCE NOTICE THEREOF.

 

Pricing:
The prices for the Service are set forth in your quote or customer agreement. The prices do not include applicable taxes and surcharges, which will may be added to the prices for service. If your pricing is based upon a promotional rate, you have been informed of the promotional nature of the rate and the duration of the promotional period, as well as the full periodic service charge you will pay after the end of the promotional period. There may be one-time or recurring additional fees, including early termination fees, pursuant to your quote or customer agreement. As explained below, the Service is subject to data caps or allowances imposed by the Provider.

 

Privacy Policies:
We do not own, operate, maintain or control the Service and do not have network management practices that entail the inspection of network traffic. As a reseller of the Service, we do not store personally-identifiable traffic information, we do not provide personally-identifiable traffic information to third parties, or use that information for non-network management purposes. The Provider uses or may use network management practices that entail the inspection of network traffic; storage of network traffic data; and use of network traffic data for non-network management purposes, including disclosure of such traffic data to third parties. The current Provider, Sprint, discusses these matters generally in its “Open Internet Information” available online at https://sprint.com/legal/open_internet_information.html (as may be amended, the “Sprint Disclosures”), which refers to Sprint’s generally-applicable privacy policies that may be viewed online at www.sprint.com/privacy.

 

Redress Options:
If you have a complaint about the Service, please contact us to resolve the complaint. Your customer agreement will govern dispute resolution generally.

 

Congestion Management:
We do not own, operate, maintain, or control the Service, and do not engage in network congestion management practices. The Provider uses network congestion management practices that may interfere with the speed or the availability of your Service. You should review the Provider’s disclosures for the network congestion management practices that may affect your use of the Service, including descriptions of congestion management practices; types of traffic subject to practices; purposes served by practices; practices’ effects on end users’ experience; criteria used in practices, such as indicators of congestion that trigger a practice, and the typical frequency of congestion; usage limits and the consequences of exceeding them; and references to engineering standards, where appropriate.

 

Application-Specific Behavior:
We do not own, operate, maintain, or control the Service, and do not engage in the blocking or rate-control of specific protocols or protocol ports, nor do we modify any protocol fields or inhibit or favor any applications or classes of applications. The Provider may engage in one or more of those activities. You should review the Provider’s disclosures for application-specific practices by the Provider that may affect your use of the Service.

 

Device Attachment Rules:
The Equipment needed to operate the Service must be purchased and activated through Mobile Beacon. Mobile Beacon will pass through or otherwise provide the warranties and technical support offered by the manufacturer and/or the Provider (if any), as further described in your customer agreement.

 

Security:
We do not own, operate, maintain, or control the Service, and do not take any measures to assure the security of your use of the Service or the security of the network. The Provider, may take action to guard your security in the use of the network and to safeguard the network. Please refer to the Provider’s open internet disclosures for additional information.