Last modified: October 8, 2024
The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) requires that Clearwave Fiber and other providers of broadband Internet access services disclose certain information regarding any network management practices that we employ, the performance characteristics of our services, and the commercial terms of our service offerings.
I. Network Practices
The Clearwave Fiber network is designed for typical usage by a typical business or residential user. Computer activity resulting in excessive or sustained bandwidth consumption may burden the network and such usage may be restricted. Bandwidth on our network is a limited, shared resource among subscribers, unless you are subject to a Service plan that provides dedicated Services. Because we seek to provide the Services at a reasonable cost to the largest number of users, the use of our network is subject to fair and reasonable usage guidelines. Additional details are available in our Acceptable Use Policy.
a. Blocking
Clearwave does not block or otherwise prevent end user access to lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices. Clearwave does engage in reasonable network management practices as further described in our Acceptable Use Policy.
b. Throttling
Clearwave does not degrade or impair access to lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, application, service, user, or use of a non-harmful device. Clearwave does engage in reasonable network management practices as further described in our Acceptable Use Policy.
c. Affiliated Prioritization
Clearwave does not directly or indirectly favor some traffic over other traffic, including through use of techniques such as traffic shaping, prioritization, or resource reservation, to benefit an affiliate.
d. Paid Prioritization
Clearwave does not directly or indirectly favor some traffic over other traffic, including through use of techniques such as traffic shaping, prioritization, or resource reservation, in exchange for consideration, monetary or otherwise.
e. Congestion Management
The bandwidth and network resources used to deliver our Internet access service are limited and shared among users. While we strive to provide sufficient bandwidth to meet the foreseeable needs of our customers, our network may be negatively affected by the rapidly increasing demands of users whose actions strain the ability of the Internet to meet that demand. Conscious of this, the FCC allows Internet access service providers such as Clearwave Fiber to engage in “reasonable network management practices” to respond to situations such as network congestion or excessive users.
Consistent with the FCC’s rules, Clearwave Fiber reserves the right to employ the types of “reasonable network management” tools and techniques that are commonly used in the industry to protect consumers from activity that can unreasonably burden our network and may cause service degradation, including security attacks and network congestion. The use of certain network management tools and techniques may affect users’ Internet performance, such as download and upload times or response times while surfing the Internet or playing games. The effects of network management typically will be noticeable only for a brief period of time, if at all.
Network management tools and techniques may include detecting malicious traffic patterns and preventing the distribution of viruses or other malicious code, limiting the number of sessions a user can conduct at the same time, limiting the aggregate bandwidth available for certain usage protocols, detecting and preventing the distribution of viruses and other malware, port blocking, measuring subscriber bandwidth usage, bandwidth allowances, traffic prioritization and other tools and techniques as Clearwave Fiber may from time to time determine are appropriate. New network management techniques are being developed on an ongoing basis to address evolving challenges and threats to the network and users, and Clearwave Fiber may elect to use some or all available network management techniques on a temporary or as-needed basis. Network management tools and techniques may also be employed to allow Clearwave Fiber to comply with various legal requirements, including, but not limited to, providing proper assistance to law enforcement, national security, emergency response and disaster relief agencies.
The network management tools and techniques employed by Clearwave Fiber do not target specific usages or applications and instead focus in a content-neutral manner on bandwidth usage in real time, with the goal of providing reasonable and equitable access to the network for all similarly situated customers. In other words, to the extent that the use of network management practices may affect the performance or other characteristics of Internet service, they are designed to affect all similarly situated customers equally.
f. Application Specific Behavior
Clearwave Fiber does not discriminate against or prevent users of its service from sending and receiving the lawful content of their choice; running lawful applications and using lawful services of their choice; or connecting their choice of legal devices, provided that such applications and services do not harm the network or the provision of broadband Internet access service, cause malicious traffic patterns facilitate theft of service or the distribution of unlawful content, or otherwise harm or unreasonably impair other users of the service. Similarly, Clearwave Fiber does not impair or degrade particular content, applications, services or non-harmful devices so as to render them effectively unusable, subject to the policies and procedures outlined herein.
As described above, Clearwave Fiber reserves the right to employ network management practices, e.g., to prevent the distribution of viruses or other malicious code, as well as to block, in accordance with applicable law, transfer of unlawful content such as child pornography or the unlawful transfer of content. As such, Clearwave Fiber blocks ports 135, 136, 137, 138, 139 & 448. SMTP Port 25 is restricted to Clearwave Fiber servers for residential customers. In addition, Clearwave Fiber may enter into arrangements to provide Internet service to third party establishments (such as coffee shops, bookstores, hotels or libraries) who then may offer such service to their customers, guests or others. Nothing herein is intended to address network management practices, performance characteristics or commercial terms that may be adopted by such third-party premise operators in connection with the provision of Internet service to others.
g. Device Attachment Rules
The pace of technological change is rapid and due to customer demand and other advancements, modem models previously compatible may become obsolete. Clearwave Fiber may require customers to replace a non-approved or previously approved modem model with an approved one and reserves the right to discontinue provision of service to any non-approved modem. Customer may choose to lease a modem from Clearwave Fiber or purchase an approved model from a retailer.
h. Security
Clearwave Fiber also employs certain practices to protect the security of our customers and our network from unwanted and harmful activities. These include practices designed to protect our servers against Denial of Service attacks and to prevent spam and identity theft.
II. Performance Characteristics
a. Service Description
Clearwave Fiber provides what is known as a “fixed broadband” Internet access service that is designed to provide the capability to transmit data to and receive data from all or substantially all Internet end points. Clearwave Fiber offers multiple packages (or “tiers”) of Internet access service for residential or commercial use with varying targeted speeds, features and bandwidth usage limitations that may affect the suitability of such service for real-time applications. The features, pricing and other commercial terms of our service offerings are modified from time to time, and not all packages are available in all areas. Each package is priced to reflect the particular speed, features and bandwidth usage limitations of that package. Full descriptions of currently available packages and pricing can be found on Clearwave Fiber’s website at www.clearwavefiber.com or by contacting our customer service center at 877-293-2973.
The FCC requires that we disclose information regarding the expected and actual speed and latency of our Internet access service offerings. Our advertised speeds represent our targeted speed for a particular service package. Actual speeds may be faster or slower than advertised speeds. The speed a subscriber experiences may vary based on a number of factors including, but not limited to (i) variances in network usage; (ii) the capabilities and capacities of the customer’s computer and/or local area network (LAN) devices such as wireless routers; (iii) latency (i.e., the time delay in transmitting or receiving packets as impacted in significant part by the distance between points of transmission); (iv) the performance of the content and application providers the consumer is accessing, such as a search engine or video streaming site; and (v) performance characteristics of transmissions over portions of the Internet that are not subject to Clearwave Fiber’s control. Our Internet access service is provided on a best-efforts basis and speeds or other performance characteristics cannot be guaranteed.
| Advertised Download | Average Download | Advertised Upload | Average Upload | Average Latency |
| 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps | 25 ms |
| 250 Mbps | 250 Mbps | 250 Mbps | 250 Mbps | 25 ms |
| 500 Mbps | 500 Mbps | 500 Mbps | 500 Mbps | 25 ms |
| 1000 Mbps | 940 Mbps | 1000 Mbps | 940 Mbps | 25 ms |
| 2000 Mbps | 2000 Mbps | 2000 Mbps | 2000 Mbps | 25 ms |
| 7000 Mbps | 7000 Mbps | 7000 Mbps | 7000 Mbps | 25 ms |
There are many factors affecting speed and latency. Customers may wish to conduct their own test. Speed tests are available at http://www.speedtest.net/.
III. Commercial Terms
a. Pricing and Fees
Clearwave Fiber offers multiple tiers of broadband Internet access service. Not all plans are available in every area, so be sure to check plan availability at your address on our website at Ready to Fiber Up? (clearwavefiber.com) or by calling our customer service center at 877-293-2973. The pricing and other commercial terms of our broadband Internet access services are subject to change and the information provided in this disclosure statement is not intended to supersede or modify any of the terms and conditions of service as applicable to a particular customer.
b.Privacy Policies
Clearwave’s privacy policies can be found in our Privacy Policy.
c. Broadband Labels
We offer a variety of broadband plans to suit your needs, but availability varies by location. Not all plans are available in every area, so be sure to check plan availability at your address to view relevant broadband labels on our website at Ready to Fiber Up? (clearwavefiber.com). You can also download a machine-readable CSV file HERE containing a list of Clearwave Fiber’s Broadband Labels.
d. Redress Options
For immediate assistance with issues or complaints involving your broadband Internet access service, please contact our customer service centers at 877-293-2973. We have agents available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Written complaints can also be sent via U.S. mail to: Clearwave Fiber, Attn: Legal Department, P.O. Box 1229, Pooler, GA 31322.
The FCC has established procedures for addressing informal and formal complaints relating to its “Open Internet” rules. For information concerning these formal and informal complaint procedures, please refer to the FCC’s website at Getting Broadband Q&A | Federal Communications Commission (fcc.gov).