Internet Practices

Southern Linc's ("we" or "our") Internet Practices support our efforts to preserve the principles of open Internet access for customers subscribing to plans with Internet access through our regional Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network. When describing our Internet Practices, we use " Network" to refer to our Internet-accessible LTE network and related functionality. Not all customers will have Internet-accessible plans or phones. Here are more details on how we seek to manage our Network:

Network Practices

  • Optimization: Other than in the exercise of reasonable network management practices to maintain the security and integrity of our network (as described further herein), we do not throttle or otherwise degrade or impair access to lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, application, service, user, or use of a non-harmful device. Our good faith estimate of typical congestion frequency is less than one percent. To facilitate such reasonable network management, your device, when used to access the Network may have built-in optimization technologies. These may include caching less data, using less capacity, limiting resolution, and sizing files for more efficient access and usage with mobile devices, e.g., via a proxy server that automatically compresses media files and websites. When we detect that a file is capable of compression, we may compress it regardless of source and content. While such compression may result in reduced resolution and color accuracy, it facilitates faster loading and uses less memory and network capacity, resulting in less consumption of your data usage allowance, all as part of our effort to provide a better experience for you and other users on the Network.
    • Websites: When you visit a website on your browser, the site may automatically optimize so that it consumes less memory and loads more quickly. Any website, including our sites, may undergo this optimization process.
    • Image and Video Files: Your device may automatically optimize outgoing images, and the Network may automatically optimize incoming files. Any video files, including streaming, regardless of content or source, may be automatically optimized via buffering, transcoding, caching, duration limitation, and/or resolution degradation in order to function. Optimization removes bits of data, such as colors, in order to decrease file size while maintaining sufficient quality for viewing on a mobile device screen.
    • Network Monitoring: We undertake reasonable physical, technical, and administrative safeguards to protect the integrity and operations of our Network. We monitor the Network to make every effort to ensure that it is operating at the highest industry standards. Some performance elements we monitor are: (1) packet loss (errors and discards) within the core network and over the links to the Internet; (2) the quality of the backhaul links between our core network and each cell site; and (3) statistical analysis of the radiofrequency conditions at each cell site. This monitoring is part of our effort to give you the best available coverage and customer experience. We take certain actions protect the Network and its users from harm, such as denial of service attacks, spam, outside attacks, tampering, malicious activity, and Network events that may disrupt or degrade your ability to use the Network. Among these actions are the following:
      • We have taken reasonable physical, technical and administrative safeguards to protect the integrity and operations of the Network. We may also prohibit certain activity on the network that we deem, in our sole and reasonable discretion, to pose a potential risk to the Network or to other customers. Triggering conditions for our taking such actions include, but are not limited to, denial of service activity, IP address or port scanning, excessive account login failures, or transmissions from certain Internet addresses that are disruptive, malicious and typically persistent. We reserve the right as a reasonable security practice, without advance notice, to block any customer traffic, ports, protocols, devices or applications (such as peer-to-peer applications that may carry malicious software or are known to be problematic) that we determine, in our sole and reasonable discretion, may cause harm to our network or to other customers, or may expose us to potential legal liability.
  • Devices and Applications:
    • We do not block devices that have properly provisioned SIM card(s), but please note that only our Southern Linc LTE devices are designed to function on our Network. If you insert SIM card(s) from another wireless provider your device will not connect to our network and your device will not function on our network, and we take no responsibility (and hereby disclaim any liability whatsoever) for your lack of network access or other consequences for your use of a third party's SIM card in such situations. Devices compatible with our Network may be purchased through a Southern Linc Authorized Dealer, Retail Store, Direct Sales Representative, or our website. To connect to our Network, you will need to obtain SIM card(s) from us by subscribing to a plan, which may require payment of an activation fee and other charges, subject to terms and conditions. If you have questions about connecting a particular device, please contact a dealer, Retail Store, Direct Sales Representative, or Customer Solutions.
    • Content and applications developed by third parties (e.g., downloadable, or networked applications, wallpaper, ringtones, games, and productivity tools) ("Content & Apps") may be preloaded on your device, or you may purchase Content & Apps for your device. Some Content & Apps may not be compatible with or function on your device. We are not responsible for any third-party Content & Apps preloaded on your device, or for any third-party Content & Apps that you download, and WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WTHOUT LIMIATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, that they will function on your device. In general, we do not block downloads of any Content & Apps, subject to the limitations described below under "Security and Extreme Congestion Procedures." For more information regarding Content & Apps, please see the "Content and Applications" section of our Acceptable Use Policy.
  • No Blocking of Websites subject to reasonable network management:
    • If your plan offers Internet access, you can generally go to any website supported by your device accessible through our Network; however, such website access may be blocked according to the limitations described below under "Security and Extreme Congestion Procedures" and our Acceptable Use Policy. Website access may also be limited by device design and network architecture.
    • If your device is a feature phone (not a smartphone), it may be designed to access only wireless application protocol ("WAP") websites rather than standard Internet protocol "HTTP" websites, which means you can only visit simplified sites configured to load via the WAP gateway (formatted Web content for small phone screens).
    • Please contact Customer Solutions if you have questions about the websites your device supports. We enable access to the Internet via our Network, but we do not provide Wi-Fi service. Most smartphones allow users to connect to third party Wi-Fi Networks. If you plan to access the Internet through a third party Wi-Fi Network, please check with the Wi-Fi provider for information about their network management practices.
  • Usage Type and Allowances: Your use of the Network is subject to our Acceptable Use Policy. Please see our Acceptable Use Policy for a description of prohibited content and transmission structures as well as data usage allowances. If your usage violates the Acceptable Use Policy or adversely affects the Network, network performance, or the experience of other customers, we reserve the right to restrict your data usage or services.
  • Security and Extreme Congestion Procedures:
    • Our Service is provided on a “best efforts” basis and our congestion management practices are in place to ensure that all of our customers experience high quality service under varying usage periods. If we determine that the operation, stability, or security of our Network is threatened, subject to interference or penetration, or is otherwise experiencing an emergency situation, we reserve the right to take any and all actions we deem appropriate to secure and protect the Network. Moreover, access to a limited number of Internet addresses may be blocked if those addresses are disruptive or malicious and typically persistent as determined as determined in our sole and reasonable discretion following our review of credible wireless industry reporting -wide intelligence.
    • You are solely responsible for taking security measures to protect your device from the spread of viruses, malware, spam, or other threats.
  • Affiliated Prioritization: We do not directly or indirectly favor some internet traffic over other internet traffic, including through use of techniques such as traffic shaping, prioritization, or resource reservation, to benefit any of our affiliates, defined as any entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with Southern Linc.
  • Paid Prioritization: We do not directly or indirectly favor some internet traffic over other internet traffic, including through use of techniques such as traffic shaping, prioritization, or resource reservation, in exchange for consideration, monetary or otherwise.

Performance

  • The Network generally prioritizes voice calls over data transmissions by design, thereby promoting better quality voice services. Although performance may be slower during peak usage times, we generally do not restrict Internet or media usage during times of high usage, except as discussed above under "Security and Extreme Congestion Procedures." If your device allows access to third party Wi-Fi, you may experience faster download and upload speeds while on Wi-Fi.
  • The Network is not designed to handle programs, systems, apps, or other usage that drive continuously heavy traffic or data sessions, and such usage is prohibited to the extent it would impair Network functionality and delivery of service to you and other customers. Please refer to our Acceptable Use Policy for further information.
  • "Speed" describes the capacity at which an Internet access service can transmit data. Capacity is usually measured in the number of kilobits or megabits that can be transmitted in one second (Kbps or Mbps). Some applications, such as email, do not need a high rate of speed to function optimally, while other applications do, such as the transfer of large data files. The actual speeds you experience on the Network will vary depending on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, signal strength and signal quality between the cell tower and your device, cell site utilization by other callers and data session users, and availability of the third party Internet server being accessed. Speeds of data transmissions on LTE are generally considered 4G data transmissions. If you are a single user of a channel on a cell tower, you may experience data speeds between 3-22 Mbps, but if you are one of several users on a channel, your data speed may be slower. We do not guarantee that you will experience any particular speed or that you will be able to engage in any data usage at any particular location or point in time on the Network.
  • Another measure of a network's performance is latency, which is the amount of time it takes an IP packet to traverse the Network end-to-end (i.e., from the time the packet is sent to its destination to the time the sender receives an acknowledgement or other response from the destination). Latency is usually reported in milliseconds (ms). Latency in an LTE network usually averages about 100 ms. This measure varies widely because of the myriad conditions and scenarios that any given transmission may experience at any given moment over a wireless network. We cannot (and do not) guarantee or warrant the degree of latency you will encounter at any given location or time when using the Network.

Commercial Terms

  • We respect our customers' privacy. We use network traffic information for network-related purposes and do not sell that information to third parties. Our current Privacy Policy is available here:
    https://www.southernlinc.com/privacy/privacy-policy.aspx
  • We protect certain usage-related information about the quantity, type, and usage patterns, called your Customer Proprietary Network Information ("CPNI"), as required by federal law and FCC regulations. Please see our CPNI Guidelines for more information.
  • We offer multiple calling plans and add-on options, with pricing information available at Service Plans and Add-on Packages.
  • Service terms applicable to all plans and promotions, including, but not limited to, termination fees and services limitations, are available at Promotion Details. Our Acceptable Use Policy can be found at Acceptable Use Policy.
  • If you have a complaint or questions, including questions about our Internet Practices as described above, please contact Customer Solutions.

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