Conditions of Service

The Bermuda Telephone Company Limited ("the Company")
provides service to Customers subject to these general conditions of service (“General Conditions of Service”) and BTC's rates and charges ("Charges") filed with the Department of Telecommunications from time to time pursuant to the Telecommunications Act 1986, as amended, or any successor legislation (collectively, the “Act”). A “Customer” is regarded as a person who accepts the provision of service from BTC according to its Charges at his or her residence or business premises. BTC reserves the right to modify these General Conditions of Service at any time and to vary its Charges in accordance with the requirements of the Act.Â The most current version of BTC’s General Conditions of Service and Charges are available on BTC’s website at www.btc.bm or at BTC’s offices at 30 Victoria Street, Hamilton HM 12.

1 RESPONSIBILITY FOR TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT AND WIRING

(a)	BTC's Equipment
	Telephone and ancillary equipment rented by BTC to Customers remains the property of BTC.Â Customers are responsible for damage to, or the loss of, equipment rented by them, irrespective of how this damage or loss may occur (fair wear and tear excepted), and they will be charged accordingly in the event of such damage or loss.
(b)	BTC’s Responsibility for Exterior Wiring
	BTC shall only be responsible for faults on exterior wiring up to and including the demarcation point.Â The “demarcation point” means the point located at the Customer’s premises where BTC’s exterior wiring terminates (i.e., in BTC’s line protection equipment) and where the Customer’s interior wiring begins.
(c)	Customer’s Responsibility for Equipment
	Equipment and accessories owned by the Customer may be used with BTC’s facilities under the following conditions:
	(i)	Customers are responsible for interior wiring which leaves the demarcation point and enters the Customer’s residence or business premises, and Customers must pay any costs incurred to repair or replace interior wiring or modular jacks.
	(ii)	When a Customer elects to provide the Customer’s own communications system, the Customer must provide all its own communications system equipment and associated wiring which are part of the communications system and which are located on the same premises as the communications system.
	(iii)	The signal from Customer-owned terminal equipment must meet the minimum network protection criteria laid down by BTC.
	(iv)	Customer-owned equipment connected to BTC’s access lines must not interfere with any BTC service.Â It must not endanger the safety of BTC’s employees or the public and must not change, damage, destroy or interfere with the operation of BTC’s equipment.Â The Customer must pay any costs incurred by BTC to remove any hazard or interference caused by the Customer’s equipment or to restore or replace any BTC facilities or equipment damaged or destroyed by the Customer’s equipment.
	(v)	Unless agreed to in writing between the Customer and BTC, BTC has no responsibility for installing, operating or maintaining any Customer-owned equipment for the through transmission of signals or for the quality of, or defects in, signals sent or received by that equipment.
	(vi)	BTC does not test, certify or inspect Customer-owned equipment except as needed for its own purposes, and BTC accepts no liability for personal injury or death or for property damage alleged to have resulted from BTC’s failure to certify or inspect Customer-owned equipment.
	(vii)	BTC is not responsible to the Customer if the Customer’s equipment becomes obsolete or requires modification due to changes in BTC’s facilities, operations, procedures or Charges.
	(viii)	BTC is not responsible for any damages caused by, or not prevented by, Customer-owned equipment. This includes property damage or personal injury from voltages or currents transmitted over BTC’s facilities which are either caused by, or not prevented by, Customer-owned equipment.
	(ix)	BTC will not give credit to Customers in relation to interrupted service that is the result of the failure of Customer-owned equipment.
	(x)	Notwithstanding anything contained in the preceding paragraphs, BTC expressly reserves the right to refuse to permit the Customer to connect Customer-owned equipment to BTC’s equipment if, in the opinion of BTC, any such connection could prove detrimental to any service provided by BTC.

2 ATTACHMENTS OR ALTERATIONS TO TELEPHONE EQUIPMENT OR LINES

(a)	No alterations may be made to wiring or any other equipment provided by BTC except by BTC’s employees as authorised.
(b)	Customers may connect their own equipment/devices to BTC’s equipment at their own risk and subject to these General Conditions of Service. Customer-owned equipment must meet established equipment standards as set out by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, the Canadian Standards Association International or the International Telecommunications Union.Â
(c)	Customers are advised that there are technical limits (imposed by devices) to the total number of devices which may be connected to, and work satisfactorily over, a single telephone access line.Â Exceeding this limit may result in degradation of the quality of service.Â BTC will levy a Charge for work performed by BTC to correct a problem caused by Customer-owned equipment or interior wiring at the premises.
(d)	Where the access lines rented by a Customer become overloaded, BTC may, in its sole discretion, require that the Customer rent additional access lines.
(e)	Customers are advised that there are technical limits (imposed by devices and BTC network conditions) that affect broadband DSL services provided by BTC. Additional information on BTC broadband DSL services is available on BTC’s website at www.btc.bm.

3 RESPONSIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF BILLS

(a)	Service is supplied at business rates where it is of a business, professional, institutional or occupational nature. Service is supplied at residential rates where it is for social or domestic purposes. The advertising of residence class telephone numbers for business purposes is not permitted.
(b)	Payment is due on the date specified on the Customer’s bill. Failure to receive a telephone bill does not constitute a valid reason for non-payment of accounts.
(c)	A Customer will receive his or her monthly bill online or at the mailing address given to BTC by the Customer. Customers are required to give 30 days advance notice in writing of any change in their email or mailing addresses.
(d)	All calls are billed upon being answered. An answered call exists when a connection is made between the Customer’s telephone and some other device through BTC’s network.Â Answered calls include, but are not limited to, calls connected to a wrong number, an answering machine, a computer, a voice mailbox, a fax machine, a pager or other tone devices.Â Calls include calls to any 900 number.
(e)	Charges for which the Customer shall also be responsible include, but are not limited to, the following:
	(i)	Local calls, which are billed in accordance with the readings recorded by BTC, less the relevant monthly allowance, if any;
	(ii)	Overseas calls, which are billed as being made from the Customer’s telephone number using a long distance carrier for which BTC provides a billing service. Overseas calls also include collect calls or third party calls from elsewhere;
	(iii)	Charges incurred to investigate overseas or local telephone calls, to provide audits of Customer’s bills or to provide copies of telephone bills;
	(iv)	Charges resulting from customer site visits to detect or correct problems with Customer-owned equipment, interior wiring or jacks; and
	(v)	Charges resulting from fraudulent or otherwise unauthorised use of service. .
(f)	Payments made to BTC by a debit or credit bank card (“Card”) are subject to the terms and conditions and payment practices established by the Card issuer and these General Conditions of Service. Customers are required to provide (and maintain) BTC current debit or credit card information when payments are made by Card.
(g)	Payments made to BTC via automatic teller machine (“ATM”) or online banking are subject to the rules and regulations and payment practices of the Customer’s bank and these General Conditions of Service.
(h)	Customers are responsible and shall be charged accordingly if payment to BTC by a Card or by any other non-cash method is rejected for any reason. BTC will pass on to Customers any bank charges incurred for non-sufficient funds or Card denials.
(i)	Any dispute to a charge on a Customer’s bill must be made by calling or writing to BTC within one hundred and eighty (180) days of the date of that bill, otherwise the Customer will be deemed to have accepted such charge.Â Customers are expected to pay all undisputed charges in accordance with these General Conditions of Service.
(j)	A Customer who does not pay his or her bill by the due date specified on the bill will be subject to a late fee.Â Customers who fail to pay for two consecutive billing periods will be subject to service disconnection with a Charge imposed for reconnection.Â Customers who are current on the non-disputed portion of their bills will not be subject to late fees or disconnection.
(k)	BTC will reconnect service when all outstanding charges including the reconnection fee are paid, however, BTC cannot guarantee that the Customer will be able to retain his or her prior telephone/directory number for reconnections that occur after 90 days.
(l)	Where a Customer continuously fails to pay charges due, BTC may disconnect or remove its equipment from the Customer’s residence or business premises after 90 days.Â BTC reserves the right to refuse to provide service to a Customer as a consequence of non-payment by the Customer of charges even if all outstanding charges are subsequently cleared.
(m)	BTC may at any time (1) require the Customer to pay an advance deposit or provide a guarantee as security for payment of future bills by the means requested by BTC and/or (2) carry out a credit check of the Customer.Â The Customer will be required to provide BTC with any information that BTC may reasonably require for any such credit check.
(n)	BTC may require full payment by the Customer of all sums owed to it before providing interconnection service. This may include reimbursements for loss or damage to telephone facilities as provided herein, periodic charges for facilities and service, termination charges, installation charges, minimum charges or otherwise.
(o)	Customers will be responsible for all debt collection, legal and other charges incurred by BTC in attempting to recover all overdue amounts.Â

4 CREDIT PROGRAM

(a)	BTC will provide any residential or single line business Customer who is out of service, as defined herein, with a maximum of one (1) out of service credit equivalent to one (1) month access line rental charge, per access line per calendar month. BTC will consider such a Customer to be out of service in the event that the Customer cannot make and/or receive a call on such Customer’s access line(s) for the following periods of time:
	(i)	Residential Customers: a minimum of seven (7) consecutive days.
	(ii)	Single line business Customers: a minimum of two (2) consecutive days.
	The period of time that BTC may consider a Customer to be out of service will commence when the Customer reports the outage to BTC.Â BTC will consider service interruptions reported after 3:00 p.m. to have been received at 9:00 a.m. on the following day. Credits will be applied automatically to the Customer's bill in the month following the service interruption.
(b)	The following fault categories are excluded from the credit program:
	(i)	Faults resulting from acts or omissions of the Customer;
	(ii)	Faults resulting from acts or omissions of third parties;
	(iii)	Faults resulting from Customer-owned or third party equipment, including, but not limited to, interior wiring from the demarcation point, jacks or grounding equipment;
	(iv)	Faults resulting from fraudulent or otherwise unauthorised use of service;
	(v)	Repeat faults due to the failure of the Customer's underground cable where BTC has requested that the Customer open a trench for new conduit and cable to be installed;
	(vi)	Faults where rectification involves the Customer settling a boundary dispute;
	(vii)	Faults caused by third party infrastructure or excavation;
	(viii)	Faults caused by events beyond BTC's reasonable control, including, but not limited to, hurricane, storms, flooding, power surges or loss of power;
	(ix)	Delays by BTC with respect to installation of service or the transfer of existing service; and
	(x)	Service interruptions where BTC has disconnected the Customer line due to the failure of the Customer to pay BTC’s Charges or otherwise pursuant to law.

5 TERMINATION OR REQUEST FOR NEW SERVICE OR CHANGE OR TRANSFER OF SERVICE

(a)	All Customers must give BTC 30 days notice in writing to terminate service, and Customers will be charged full service fees for 30 days following BTC’s receipt of the written termination notice.Â All business Customers must make any request for new service or service changes or transfers in writing.Â Failure to provide written notice will result in the continuing liability of the Customer for all access, service, rental and other charges.
(b)	If a Customer fails to comply with these General Conditions of Service, BTC may take action, including suspending, disconnecting or terminating service.
(c)	BTC reserves the right to terminate service and remove all BTC-owned equipment in the following circumstances:
	(i)	Failure to pay all undisputed Charges on the due date (as per section 3 above);
	(ii)	Interference with BTC’s equipment or access line by the Customer;
	(iii)	If used in a manner or for a purpose prohibited by law, including without limitation to send or communicate messages, conduct activities or otherwise use the service in contravention of the Telecommunications Act 1986, the Obscene Publications Act 1973, the Criminal Code Act 1907, the Proceeds of Crime Act 1988, the Human Rights Act 1981, or the Tenth Schedule to the Companies Act 1981, each as amended from time to time; and
	(iv)	If used in contravention of the Computer Misuse Act 1996 or to send or communicate bulk, unsolicited Electronic Records (as defined in the Electronic Transactions Act 1999, as amended from time to time) to persons with whom the Customer has no relationship (either contractual or personal) or to persons who have not otherwise consented to receive such Electronic Records.

6 LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

Except as is specifically set out in these General Conditions of Service and to the maximum extent permitted by law, BTC shall have no liability under these General Conditions of Service (including incidental procedures for the operation thereof or for its negligence or otherwise):
(a)	For any failure in the provision of service (excluding failures covered by a Customer’s Service Level Agreement);
(b)	For any indirect loss; loss of business, revenue, or profit; expected savings; wasted expense; financial loss or loss or harm to Customer’s data;
(c)	For libel, slander, defamation or the infringement of copyright arising from material or messages transmitted over BTC's telecommunications network from a Customer's property or premises or recorded by a Customer's equipment or BTC's equipment;
(d)	For the infringement of patents arising from the combining or using of the Customer’s facilities or equipment with BTC’s equipment or BTC’s telecommunications network;
(e)	For damages arising out of the act, default, neglect or omission of the Customer in the use or operation of equipment provided by BTC;
(f)	For damages arising out of the transmission of material or messages over BTC's telecommunications network on the Customer's behalf that is in any way unlawful;
(g)	For any damages or injuries which may occur through lightning or other currents being carried over or through BTC's equipment or facilities;
(h)	For any damages due to fraudulent or otherwise unauthorised use of service;
(i)	For any damages arising out of defects in transmission or mistakes, interrupts, delays or errors occurring in the course of providing service;
(j)	For any damages caused by or not prevented by Customer-owned equipment; or
(k)	For any damages caused by incorrectly published telephone numbers or inadvertent publication or availability of an unpublished number.

7 INDEMNIFICATION

(a)

The Customer undertakes to indemnify and hold BTC harmless from any and all loss, claims, demands, suits or other action, or any liability whatsoever, for any personal injury to, or death of, any person or persons and for any loss, damage or destruction of any property caused, or claimed to have been caused, directly or indirectly by the installation, operation, failure to operate, maintenance, removal, presence, condition, location or use of Customer-owned and maintained equipment other than injury or damage caused by the negligence of BTC or any of its employees in the course of authorised employment.

(b)

Where the operation of a Customer’s facilities or equipment causes disruption in BTC’s service to any other person, the Customer shall indemnify and hold BTC harmless from any and all actions, causes of action, claims, demands or liability arising out of the disruption of service.

8 UNAUTHORISED USE OF SERVICE

The Customer shall comply with all applicable laws in using the service and shall notify BTC immediately if the Customer becomes aware of any fraudulent or otherwise unlawful or unauthorised access or use of service. BTC may at any time immediately suspend or terminate service to prevent any unauthorised use of service or to protect the integrity of its network.

9 WAYLEAVES

Customers will provide safe and reasonable access to BTC’s plant and telephone equipment at all times to BTC employees in the execution of their duties and will grant permission to erect poles and run wires on their property through a suitable right-of-way for the provision of telephone service.

In the event that the Customer has obstructed or failed to maintain BTC’s safe and reasonable access to its equipment, BTC may, at its sole discretion, decline to complete any work until such time as the Customer provides such access to the equipment.Â BTC may levy an extra charge in the event that the Customer has not restored safe and reasonable access to its equipment, and BTC determines to proceed with the work. The Customer shall fully indemnify BTC for any loss, damage or injury that occurs as a result of the Customer’s failure to provide safe and reasonable access to BTC’s equipment.

10 LOCAL LISTINGS AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS

(a)	BTC will make Customers’ published telephone numbers available to Bermuda Yellow Pages (“BYP”) for publication in the Bermuda Telephone DirectoryÂ® and for listing with the Directory Assistance service.
(b)	Customers who choose to have their numbers unpublished will not have their telephone number available for listing in BYP’s Bermuda Telephone DirectoryÂ® or available via the Directory Assistance service.Â BTC may levy a charge for an unpublished number.
(c)	Where BTC agrees to keep a Customer’s number unpublished, it does so without obligation. BTC will not accept liability for any damages that may arise from the publication of such a number or for disclosing it in any way.