FCC ISP Transparency

FCC ISP Transparency and Network Management Policy (2019-10)

PlantTel (Plant Telephone Inc. & Plant TiftNet, Inc.)
FCC ISP Transparency and Network Management Policy

PlantTel (“PLANTTEL”) provides this Network Transparency Statement in accordance with the FCC’s Restore Internet Freedom Rules to ensure that you have sufficient information to make informed choices about the purchase of broadband services. Information about PLANTTEL’s other policies and practices concerning broadband are available at www.tiftnet.com (“PLANTTEL Website”).

PLANTTEL engages in network management practices that are tailored and appropriate for achieving optimization on the network considering the particular network architecture and technology of its broadband Internet access service. PLANTTEL’s goal is to ensure that all of its customers experience a safe and secure broadband Internet environment that is fast, reliable and affordable. PLANTTEL wants its customers to indulge in all that the Internet has to offer, whether it is social networking, streaming videos and music, to communicating through email and videoconferencing.

PLANTTEL’s network management includes congestion- and security-protocol-management and customers generally will not be impacted by the protocols and practices that PLANTTEL uses to manage its network.

A. PLANTTEL’s Network Transparency Disclosures

PLANTTEL uses various tools and industry standard techniques to manage its network and deliver fast, secure and reliable Internet service. PLANTTEL believes in full transparency and provides the following disclosures about its network management practices:

Blocking: PLANTTEL does not block or discriminate against lawful content.

Throttling: PLANTTEL does not throttle, impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic.

Affiliated Prioritization: PLANTTEL does not prioritize Internet traffic and has no plans to do so.

Paid Prioritization: PLANTTEL has never engaged in paid prioritization. We don’t prioritize Internet for consideration to benefit particular content, applications, services or devices. PLANTTEL does not have plans to enter into paid prioritization deals to create fast lanes.

Congestion Management: PLANTTEL monitors the connections on its network in the aggregate on a daily and weekly basis to determine the rate of utilization. If congestion emerges on the network, PLANTTEL will take the appropriate measures to relieve congestion.

On PLANTTEL’s network, all customers have access to all legal services, applications and content online and, in the event of congestion, most Internet activities will be unaffected. Some customers, however, may experience longer download or upload times, or slower surf speeds on the web if instances of congestion do occur on PLANTTEL’s network.

Customers using conduct that abuses or threatens the PLANTTEL network or which violates the Plant TiftNet, Inc.’s Acceptable Use Policy, Internet service Terms and Conditions, or the Internet Service Agreement will be asked to stop any such use immediately. A failure to respond or to cease any such conduct could result in service suspension or termination.

PLANTTEL’s network and congestion management practices are ‘application-agnostic’, based on current network conditions, and are not implemented on the basis of customers’ online activities, protocols or applications. PLANTTEL’s network management practices do not relate to any particular customer’s aggregate monthly data usage.

PLANTTEL monitors its network on a [daily and weekly] basis to determine utilization on its network. PLANTTEL also checks for abnormal traffic flows, network security breaches, malware, loss, and damage to the network. If a breach is detected or high volume users are brought to light by complaint, PLANTTEL provides notification to the customer via email or phone. If a violation of PLANTTEL’s policies has occurred and such violation is not remedied, PLANTTEL will seek to suspend or terminate that customer’s service.

Application-Specific Behavior: Except as may be provided elsewhere herein, PLANTTEL does not currently engage in any application-specific behaviors on its network. Customers may use any lawful applications with PLANTTEL.

Device Attachment Rules: For best results, modems, optical network termination (ONT) units or other proprietary network gateways used on the PLANTTEL broadband network should be provided by PLANTTEL. Customers are required to use the PLANTTEL provided network gateway devices and may not use any network gateway devices not provided by PLANTTEL.Customers may attach devices of their choosing to PLANTTEL provided network gateways, including wired or wireless routers, laptops, desktop computers, video game systems, televisions, or other network-enabled electronics equipment. However, customers are responsible for ensuring that their equipment does not harm PLANTTEL’s network or impair the service of other customers. PLANTTEL is not responsible for the functionality or compatibility of any equipment provided by its customers. Customers are responsible for securing their own equipment to prevent unauthorized access to PLANTTEL’s broadband network by third parties and will be held responsible for the actions of such third parties who gain unauthorized access through unsecured customer equipment.

Network Security: PLANTTEL knows the importance of securing its network and customers from network threats and annoyances. As its normal practice, PLANTTEL does not block any protocols, content or traffic for purposes of network management, but PLANTTEL may block or limit such traffic as spam, viruses, malware, or denial of service attacks to protect network integrity and the security of our customers.

B. Network Performance

Service Descriptions
PLANTTEL deploys Internet access to its subscribers through hardwired broadband access DSL Modems, Cable

Modems, or Fiberoptic ONT’s depending on service and network availability. 2. Network Performance

PLANTTEL makes every effort to support advertised speeds and will dispatch repair technicians to customer sites to perform speed tests as needed to troubleshoot and resolve speed and application performance caused by PLANTTEL’S network. PLANTTEL measures availability, latency, and aggregate utilization on the network and strives to meet internal service level targets.PlantTel is also required by the FCC to test a random set of customers for speed and latency periodically during the year.This transparency statement discloses that PlantTel will perform these tests.If additional equipment is required for a selected customer for this testing, PlantTel will contact the customer to schedule installation of the equipment.

However, the bandwidth speed at which a particular distant website or other Internet resources may be downloaded,
or the speed at which your customer information may be uploaded to a distant website or Internet location is affected
by factors beyond PLANTTEL’ control, including the speed of the connection from a distant web server to the Internet, congestion on intermediate networks, and/or limitations on your own computer equipment, including a wireless router. In addition, your service performance may be affected by the inside wiring at your premise. Accordingly, you, the customer, must consider the capabilities of your own equipment when choosing a PLANTTEL broadband service. Your computers and/or wireless or other networks in your homes or offices may need an upgrade in order to take full advantage of the chosen PLANTTEL broadband plan.

Another measure of performance is Latency, or the time in milliseconds required for data to complete a round trip from your computer to a distant server and back. Latency is affected by the distance to the remote server, delays caused by network congestion and by the remote server. With these cautions in mind, our data shows that most connections will deliver typical speeds in the range of 80% to 100% of the advertised speed with typical latency of 30 to 50 milliseconds during the busy hours of 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. These ranges are typical of all tiers (i.e. advertised speeds such as 10 mbps, 25 mbps, 50 mbps etc) and of all serve types (DSL, cable modem or FTTH).

PLANTTEL tests each service for actual and expected access speeds at the time of network installation to demonstrate that the service is capable of supporting the advertised speed. PLANTTEL Customers are encouraged to test their actual internet speed at www.speedtest.net.

3. Impact of Non-BIAS Data Services

Real time services, such as Non-BIAS services, include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Internet Protocol

(IP) video services, command optimal bandwidth. As Non-BIAS traffic is combined with general Internet traffic on PLANTTEL’s network, broadband customers could experience service delays, although very unlikely, if there is an occurrence of congestion on PLANTTEL’s network. In any such event, the Non-BIAS traffic is given priority over general Internet traffic.

PLANTTEL provides facilities-based Voice-over-the-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) to its fixed wireline customers. The VoIP traffic uses private RFC 1918 addresses, dedicated paths for VoIP and QoS on the routers/switches it touches. The QoS priority is based on the source and destination IP. Where VoIP traffic is combined with best effort Internet traffic and QoS priority is employed, the network could endure marginal delays if there are instances of bandwidth contention, although very unlikely.

C. Commercial Terms

DSL Service Area
Counties - For all Georgia Counties except Tift (excluding Omega, GA)

All DSL High Speed Internet Services requires that the customer have a Telephone line at an additional cost that is not included in the below rates. Not all speeds are available in all areas. Please call our friendly Customer Service department at 229-528- 4777 for more information and ask about our lower 36 month contract prices.

Fiber To The Home DSL Services and Pricing

The following Fiber To The Home DSL services and pricing are only available in select areas at this time. The prices listed do not include the price of a telephone line that is required to receive this service. Please call our friendly customer service department at 229-528-4777 for availability and more information.

Cable Modem Service Area Counties - Tift (excluding Omega, GA)

No additonal Services are required for High Speed Internet Service. Equipment Rental charges may apply. An Internet Only Service Charge may also apply. Please call our friendly Customer Service department at 229-382-3003 for more information and ask about our lower 36 month contract prices.

In addition to this Network Transparency Statement, patrons may also find links to the following on the PLANTTEL Website:

For questions, complaints or requests for additional information, please contact PLANTTEL at: Business Office at 800-342-7564
Email at ptc@planttel.net