Andiamo-Online

Fair Use Policy

What is a fair use policy?

A Fair Use policy means that we may introduce some form of network management against specific subscribers if we feel that they are abusing their broadband usage beyond a level that would be considered reasonable.

For example, using the broadband service 24 hours a day, every day, to continuously download large files is not a reasonable use for a residential service.

As broadband subscribers with the same provider share bandwidth, if a few people are downloading extremely large amounts of data it can slow the service for other users online at the same time.

As another example, we might also manage the broadband service at peak times to ensure everyone is getting a stable, reliable connection across the whole network.

Why do you have a Fair Use policy?

With the increase in broadband usage and the increasing range of bandwidth intensive applications in use, it is necessary to include a Fair Use policy so that we can ensure the network is protected and optimised for all broadband users.

A small handful of broadband users make excessive use of bandwidth intensive services such as Peer to Peer (P2P) or filesharing, harming the experience for others. The Fair Use policy helps us balance out the service for everyone.

When would the Fair Use policy be triggered by subscribers?

We do not publish specific trigger levels. The threshold may vary but it is high and will only be triggered when a subscriber is judged to have made extreme use of the network. Only a very small percentage of subscribers reach this level of usage.

We suggest you download large files outside of peak hours and do not make excessive use of peer-to-peer services. Also, when you do use peer to peer or other file sharing systems, please remember that the unauthorised sharing of copyright digital files might be illegal and can result in account termination.

We will review the list of those who have triggered the Fair Use policy on a regular basis and remove from the list those that no longer exceed the threshold of what is deemed fair usage.

Only those who download extremely high volumes of data are likely to trigger the Fair Use policy. If you do not make extensive regular use of peer to peer services for example, you are unlikely to trigger the Fair Use policy.

At the moment, you will know if you have exceeded the Fair Use policy as your download speeds will be temporarily restricted during peak hours.

We are not able to guarantee that we will provide prior notice anyone who is speed limited as a result of unfair use of the network. However, the terms of service do reserve the right to take this type of action in order to protect our network.

Also, the speed restriction is a temporary measure and each month we review the accounts that have been speed limited during peak hours.

Why can't everyone download what they like, when they like?

Downloads use bandwidth, and bandwidth is a limited resource and costs money. If there were no limits on downloading then the top downloaders, using the most bandwidth, would be subsidised by people downloading very little.

There�s also the issue of peak time downloading. At peak times more people are downloading with broadband, so more of the bandwidth is being used at one time.

This puts pressure on the service and slows it down for everyone.