Open Internet Disclosure
The following policies apply to mass market broadband Internet services offered by Range Telephone Cooperative, Inc. and its subsidiaries (Advanced Communications Technology, Inc., Dubois Telephone Exchange, Inc. and RT Communications, Inc. “Range”. Range also offers enterprise level services that can be individually tailored to customer needs. Information on enterprise services can be obtained by contacting https://www.range.net. It is Range’s policy to provide robust and reliable access to the Internet for all of its mass market end user customers. Because network resources are shared by all users, Range discloses and identifies the following policies govern its mass market Internet service. These policies are designed to: (i) ensure that shared network resources are allocated fairly among all users; (ii) allow users and prospective users to understand service policies and any significant limitations on the service; and (iii) provide a foundation that assures customers that they can rely on consistently receiving the level and quality of service to which they subscribe. Range does not block access to, nor discriminate against, any lawful website or Internet application. Customers are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the following policies which are deemed part of their Service Agreement. By using Range’s Internet service, the customer accepts, agrees to be bound by and to strictly adhere to, these policies. The customer also agrees to be responsible for compliance with these policies by third parties, such as friends, family members or guests that make use of the customer’s service accounts or equipment to access the network for any purpose, with or without the permission of the customer.
I. ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
II. NETWORK MANAGEMENT; RELATED DEVICE AND PRIVACY POLICIES
Device Attachment Rules. With respect to fixed broadband services, users may generally attach the devices of their choice and run the applications of their choice, subject to the limitations of the terms of their service agreement and AUP. Range is not responsible for the compatibility, suitability or functionality of any equipment that is provided by the customer or any third party, and the customer remains fully responsible for ensuring that any such equipment does not cause any harm to the network or degrade the service of other users. All users are fully responsible for securing their equipment, including wireless routers, to prevent unauthorized access to the network by third parties and will be held fully responsible for the Actions of such third parties that gain unauthorized access to the network through unsecured end user equipment.
Privacy Policy. While Range collects personally identifiable information in order to provide fixed broadband service and to bill for this service, Range does not collect any information concerning the customer’s visited websites, application usage or other Internet activity. The full privacy policy can be found here: Range Privacy Policy.
III. COMMERCIAL TERMS
Pricing. Please see Range’s Broadband Rates. These plans and pricing are subject to change without notice.
Redress Options. All end users and edge providers that have questions or complaints regarding broadband service should contact Range). An “edge provider” refers to any content, application, service, and device provider, which generally operates at the edge rather than the core of the network. If a customer believes that these open Internet rules are not being met, the customer may file an informal complaint at the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC urges customers to submit any complaints via its website at the following address: http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm. Customers may also file a formal complaint at the FCC using Part 76 of the Commission’s rules.
IV. ISP DISCLOSURE
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued rules requiring ISPs to disclose network management practices, performance, and commercial terms of their broadband Internet access services. Range’s disclosure includes information required by paragraphs 218-223 of the Restoring Internet Freedom Order.
No Blocking. Range does not block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.
Throttling. Range 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.
Affiliated Prioritization. Range 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.
Paid Prioritization. Range 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.
Congestion Management. Range utilizes a redundant network architecture that is designed to provide users with true broadband speeds and reliability even during times of peak demand. The network has been constructed to meet projected traffic demands and is fully scalable to allow for capacity to be added to meet customer needs and to support newly developing and increasingly sophisticated applications well into the future. However, congestion can occur on any IP network, and, when it does, packets can be delayed or dropped, leading to service degradation and delays. Because core network resources are shared by all end users, Range has implemented a traffic management policy that is designed to ensure that all users are able to utilize their fair share of network resources during periods of high demand.
Range employs a protocol agnostic congestion management policy that does not discriminate against particular applications. Users remain free to access the websites of their choice and run the applications of their choice consistent with the Acceptable Usage Policy “AUP” (Section II). Range deploys quality of service and network management servers and software that constantly monitors aggregate network traffic levels. If a particular customer or group of customers is determined to be the source of high volume of network traffic, the traffic from that customer or group may be temporarily assigned a lower priority status. It should be noted that when a user’s traffic is assigned a lower priority status, their data packets will not be delayed or dropped as long the aggregate traffic on their segment does not exceed provisioned capacity for the segment as a whole. However, in cases where demand exceeds capacity, it is possible that the data traffic of any user could be delayed.
Application-Specific Behavior. Prioritization of packets can be used for other purposes as well, such as to ensure the reliability of applications that demand real time or near real time communications such as public safety communications and, in the context of mobile data services, E-911 communications. Generally, provisioned data speeds for Range’s mass market services are sufficient to support such applications as Voice over IP (VoIP), gaming, web surfing, or most streaming video. However, because Range’s residential, mass market broadband service generally does not prioritize such traffic; it is possible that certain applications requiring real time communications may perform at less than optimal levels, especially during periods of peak network demand.
Security. Range does take measures to protect its network. We do not generally interfere with or manage the use of specific protocols or ports. Equipment provided by Range for use at customer premise locations may use NAT. All radio transmissions in our network are encrypted with industry standards AES encryption.
Performance Characteristics. Range provides residential and commercial mass market customers with a choice of data plans to meet their needs. Range also provides enterprise level services that are custom tailored to a specific project and individually priced based on the needs and criteria established by the Enterprise customer. Range offers the following mass market services and typical speed ranges. These speeds were calculated based upon speed tests conducted to speed test servers on the Range network.
| Download (Mbps) | Upload (Mbps) | Latency (ms) |
| 15 | 5 | 25 |
| 30 | 10 | 25 |
| 50 | 25 | 25 |
| 100 | 50 | 25 |
Internet speeds within the Range network may be measured by performing speed tests at the following URL: http://speedtest.range.net
While Range provisions its network and equipment to ensure that its customers can enjoy the speeds to which they subscribe, Internet speeds generally result from a “best effort” service and are dependent on a number of variables, many of which are outside the control of an Internet Service Provider. Due to these variables, Range is not responsible for Internet speeds beyond its own network. Such variables include: the age and processing capability of the user’s terminal device or computer; the number of applications running simultaneously; the presence of viruses or malware; whether the terminal equipment is connected to the network by wire or by wireless; the distance the data packets must travel between the user and the website; the presence of congestion on and technical configuration of any intervening networks; any gating or congestion management schemes employed by websites to limit download or upload speeds in cases where multiple users are served simultaneously. Range does not guarantee that a customer will achieve the speeds set forth above at all times. Rather, the foregoing data speeds represent the best information available to Range of the typical speeds a customer can expect to experience under normal operating conditions.
Speed tests that allow customers to test the upload, download and latency performance of their broadband data services are available free of charge from a number of sources. Generally, these tests are influenced by the same variables that affect Internet speed set forth above. Accordingly, the speed results would not be expected to match a test of Range’s network conducted under laboratory conditions. Please note, however, that all speed tests use different methodologies to calculate Internet connection speed so each of the tests would be expected to yield different results. Accordingly, each of these tests should be viewed as a helpful guide rather than as a definitive measurement of performance.
Impact of Non-broadband Internet Access Specialized Services. Range offers an Internet Protocol-voice based service called Hosted PBX and Simple Solutions Voice service to customers with Range broadband service which, due to the product’s sensitivity to latency, receives quality of service treatment on the network where it is available. This treatment of VoIP traffic should have no material impact on capacity or bandwidth availability for Broadband Internet Access.
Customers purchasing Hosted PBX and Simple Solutions Voice service may experience a higher quality of service through improved latency for upstream voice packets carried over the Internet network. This higher quality of service is enabled through Type of Service (ToS) and Differentiated Service (DiffServe) capabilities at the customer modem and in limited network equipment deployed across the Range high speed Internet network. The setting established at the modem may be modified by our customers.
Updated March 2023
