GCI INTERNET TERMS AND CONDITIONS
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY. This is an agreement (“Agreement”) between you and GCI Communications, Corp. (“GCI”) for Internet services, equipment, and related services and/or features (“Service”) provided by GCI, UUI, and/or Supervision at the service address specified in your account. References to “GCI” in this agreement include GCI and its subsidiaries and affiliates, including United Utilities, Inc. (“UUI”) and Supervision, Inc. (“Supervision”), and this agreement applies to Service provided by any of these entities, alone or in combination. The Agreement includes and incorporates the provisions below, GCI’s Acceptable Use Policy (available at https://www.gci.com/about/terms-conditions/internet/acceptable-use-policy), GCI’s Privacy Policy (available at http://www.gci.com/privacy-policy), and, if applicable, the provisions of any Term Agreement (defined below). This Agreement applies only to residential Internet Service, and small business cable modem, DSL, and fixed wireless Service, and does not apply to Dedicated Access Internet service or any other business Internet services.
By signing up for and using the Service, you consent to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. If you do not agree with these terms and conditions, do not use the Service and notify us immediately to cancel Service. This Agreement will remain in effect until the Service is terminated as provided for below.
You agree to pay all charges associated with the Service, including without limitation installation/service call charges, monthly service charges, charges for the use of equipment, usage charges, overage charges, and other charges as set forth in your bill. Subject to notice requirements or other legal limitations, we reserve the right to change monthly recurring fees, usage fees, connection fees, and equipment fees, or to add new fees, at our discretion and at any time.
Service is purchased and provided to you on a monthly basis. Recurring service charges, equipment charges, and fees will be billed monthly, in advance. Your first monthly bill may include pro-rated charges from the date you first begin receiving Service, as well as monthly recurring charges for the next month and charges for non-recurring Service you have received, and may also include credit for any funds collected at the time of installation. Some charges, such as usage-based charges, may be billed after the products or services have been provided to you. If you receive Service under a promotion, regular charges for the Service will apply after the promotional period ends. Partial-month charges will be itemized on your statement if you add or change Service between billing dates. Payments can be made on or before the due date listed in your bill. Please include the top portion of your bill with your payment. If you provide a credit card or debit card number to us to pay for the Service, you authorize us to charge that credit card or debit card for all amounts payable by you for ongoing charges until you notify us in writing that you are withdrawing this authorization or until you have paid all charges under this Agreement.
Please note there is a late fee and finance charge assessed to any account that is not paid in full by the due date listed in your bill. Returned payments are subject to a $30.00 return fee.
We may disconnect your Service for late payments, non-payment, or violations of your obligations under this Agreement. If your account is disconnected due to late payment, non-payment, or violations of your obligations under this Agreement, you will still be responsible for paying any early termination fees associated with a Term Agreement (defined below), if applicable, and a reconnection fee may be required to reconnect your Service.
You may cancel your Service at any time subject to being charged any early termination fees and other equipment fees as described below. When you cancel your Service, you are responsible for paying for your use of the Service through the date on which your termination takes effect or we disconnect your Service. You agree to pay GCI on a pro-rated basis for any use by you of the Service for a part of a month. We will refund any balance due to you by mail after disconnection of the Service if there are no outstanding charges or early termination fees (if applicable), and after Company Equipment has been returned to us. You must return any Company Equipment at the time your service is canceled, otherwise you will be charged for unreturned equipment. See Paragraph 10 for more information about equipment.
You may have entered into an agreement with GCI that requires you to maintain certain GCI services (including without limitation GCI Cable TV service and GCI Internet service) for a certain period of time and that may allow GCI to charge you an early termination fee if you prematurely cancel your Service (“Term Agreement”). This Term Agreement is incorporated and merged into this Agreement.
If you did not enter into a Term Agreement, you have the right to cancel your Service for any reason without incurring any early termination fee.
Through the Service, GCI provides you with Internet access. You are responsible for providing a device that is able to use the Service you have ordered. We offer different speed packages, depending on service availability in your region. The current Internet packages available in your region may be found on the GCI website at http://www.gci.com/internet, or if you are a UUI or Supervision customer, http://www.uui-alaska.com. The Service is not available in all areas, and may not be available at certain speeds in your location or at all.
Some plans include the option to open and use a GCI-provided e-mail account (“GCI E-mail Account”). You acknowledge that GCI may establish general practices and limits concerning use of the GCI E-mail Account, including without limitation the maximum number of days that e-mail messages or other content will be retained, the maximum number of e-mail messages that may be sent from or received by a GCI E-mail Account, the maximum size of any e-mail message that may be sent from or received by a GCI E-mail Account, the maximum disk space that will be allotted on GCI’s servers on your behalf, and the maximum number of times (and the maximum duration for which) you may access the GCI E-mail Account in a given period of time. You agree that GCI has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any messages and other communications or other content maintained or transmitted by the Service. You acknowledge that GCI reserves the right to disable accounts that are inactive for an extended period of time. You further acknowledge that GCI reserves the right to change these general practices and limits at any time, in its sole discretion, with or without notice.
The advertised plan speed is the maximum speed you should expect to achieve for the service to which you have subscribed. GCI customers can measure network performance including download speed and upload speed by using GCI’s speed test site at http://speedtest.gci.com. Several factors may affect the actual speed measured by this site at any particular point in time. These factors may include, but are not limited to: the capability of the device used to access the Internet; limitations of customer-owned Wi-Fi routers and other equipment; the capabilities of websites or other Internet services accessed by you; and other network traffic. Speed tests performed on different sites may produce varying results due to networks and systems outside of GCI’s direct control.
Some plans offer the option for customers that have utilized all of the high-speed data usage under their plan to continue for the remainder of their billing cycle (after all the included usage has been used) at a “Basic Level of Service” without incurring additional usage charges. At a Basic Level of Service, no applications, websites, or services are blocked at any time. Activities such as email, online shopping, banking, and most web browsing may load faster and work better than applications that require high speeds, such as large file downloads or streaming media. When using a Basic Level of Service, you may find that content requiring high speeds is sometimes embedded in web pages, which may slow down the overall web browsing experience. Note that when your new billing cycle begins, the Service will automatically return to the normal high speed plan you subscribe to.
To ensure high quality and affordable Internet access for all GCI Internet subscribers, GCI products are differentiated in part by bandwidth and the amount of usage included in the regular monthly Service charge. GCI reserves the right to change these amounts at any time. If the change results in a reduction of service, GCI will provide at least 30 days’ notice. On all relevant plans, any high-speed usage exceeding the included amount of usage will be invoiced and payable. You are responsible for all users who are allowed access to your Service and all utilization and excess traffic accessed through the Service. All GCI Internet services are designed, maintained, and priced to provide a quality broadband experience at affordable rates and are subject to fair and reasonable use of the service including pursuant to our Acceptable Use Policy. GCI provides an online interface (“Usage Viewer”) to allow customers to monitor the usage on their accounts. The Usage Viewer is a guide for estimating current usage, but real-time updates are not available as usage is consumed. In addition, totals from previous days may increase as the usage records are processed and reported in the Usage Viewer, and changes to your plan during the billing cycle may result in inconsistent usage reporting until a new billing cycle begins. If there is any anomalous traffic, you must report the issue to GCI within 3 business days of the anomalous traffic. If the anomalous traffic is reported promptly and results from circumstances outside your control, including without limitation a computer virus, spam attack, or denial of service attack, GCI may, in its discretion, confirm the source of the problem and provide usage credit for the anomalous traffic. If you have questions about your usage, please contact Customer Service.
In order to maintain the best possible experience for all customers receiving Service, and to protect our network, GCI uses reasonable network management practices. Consistent with industry standards, if a certain portion of the network grows congested, we may use network management techniques to ensure that all customers have fair access to the network. For example, we employ a practice that allows the traffic of users that are imposing fewer demands on the network to get through highly utilized portions of the network more quickly than the traffic of heavier users. This policy is implemented without regard to the customer’s specific identify or what specific content, application, service or device they are using. A user may be deemed a “heavy user” based on usage during a short period of time (e.g., 15 minutes) or on a monthly billing cycle basis, or both. Thus, someone identified as a heavy user at the present time might be determined to be a light user just a few minutes later or with sufficient usage may be deemed a heavy user for the remainder of their billing cycle. Customers whose Internet traffic is de-prioritized may experience longer than normal times to download or upload files, somewhat slower Web browsing, or delays in online gaming. These techniques manage congestion in real time, so the periods of management may be sporadic and are temporary. With the exception of ensuring network security and integrity, and addressing traffic unwanted by our users (such as viruses, spam, etc.), we do not prohibit the use of, block access to, or block traffic from any services or applications even when we use network management techniques. In order to ensure that applications work effectively for all our customers, GCI may prioritize certain applications that require real-time interaction such as voice service. Locations in GCI’s statewide network that are served in part via satellite do not allow for the types of real-time congestion management described above. We may change our network management techniques from time to time without advance or immediate notice to you. Aggregated, non-customer-specific network traffic data is stored and used specifically for network management and growth planning purposes by GCI.
You acknowledge that use of the Service does not give you any ownership or other rights in any Internet/on-line addresses provided to you, including without limitation Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses and e-mail addresses. We may modify or change these addresses at any time and will make reasonable efforts to contact impacted customers when such changes are made. Upon termination of your Service, we reserve the right to permanently delete or remove any or all addresses associated with your Service.
You acknowledge that, except for equipment purchased by you from GCI, any equipment and facilities we install, along with any equipment we lease to you (collectively, “Company Equipment”), are for your exclusive use only for purposes of using the Service during your subscription and remain GCI’s property. You agree that you will not allow the Company Equipment to be serviced by anyone other than our employees or agents. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, you may not permit any attachments to, alteration of, or tampering with the Company Equipment. We may remove or change the Company Equipment at our discretion at any time the Service is active or following the termination of your Service. You agree that addition or removal of or change to the Company Equipment may interrupt your Service. You agree that the Company Equipment must be returned to us at the time you cancel your Service and that it will be in working order other than reasonable wear and tear. In the event the Company Equipment is lost, stolen, damaged, destroyed, or otherwise not returned promptly, you agree to pay the current replacement cost of the Company Equipment.
In an effort to provide a secure Service, GCI deploys industry-recommended security measures on its network. For subscribers connected to GCI’s wireline network, GCI employs a number of measures, including Cable Modem Authentication, CVC signed code images, Data Encryption, Baseline Privacy Interface (BPI), and Digitally Signed configuration files. For subscribers connected to GCI’s network wirelessly via Wi-Fi or similar fixed wireless technology (often in rural Alaska), GCI uses unpublished Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) and Media Access Control (MAC) protocol-based authentication for each authorized device on the network. Regardless of network type, GCI recommends that you use personal firewalls and security/malware software to protect your personal and/or business information. It is your sole responsibility to take appropriate precautions to protect against damage to or destruction of hardware, software, files, and data.
When you register for the Service, we may provide you a password and user name upon completing the registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your passwords. You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account, including any breach of this Agreement. If you learn of unauthorized access to your account, you must notify us immediately.
To establish general rules of the road for the Service, GCI has an Acceptable Use Policy, which is available on our website at https://www.gci.com/about/terms-conditions/internet/acceptable-use-policy. You agree to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy when using the Service. If you fail to comply, we may suspend or terminate your account or access to the Service. The Acceptable Use Policy may be changed by GCI from time to time without advance notice to you. In the event of such changes, the new Acceptable Use Policy will be posted online at the above link.
Our Privacy Policy, which is available on our website at https://www.gci.com/privacy-policy, explains how we handle your personal data, including the data that we collect about you and how we use it, and how we protect your privacy. Please review our privacy policy. By using our Service, you agree to our collection and use of your data as described in the Privacy Policy.
There may be content available through the Internet that is illegal, violates third party property or other rights, or is offensive. GCI is not responsible for the content contained on the Internet or otherwise available through the Service. GCI is not be liable for any claims, losses, actions, damages, suits, or proceedings arising out of, or otherwise relating to, such content. Websites visited or data received through the Service may contain viruses. It is your sole responsibility to take appropriate precautions to protect against damage to or destruction of hardware, software, files, and data. GCI may, but is not required to, suspend or terminate availability of the Service if a virus is found on any Customer Equipment or in any communications sent or received through the Service.
You may not use the Service for any unlawful purposes. You may not post or transmit through the Service any material (including any message or series of messages) that violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others (including copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets or proprietary rights), that is unlawful, threatening, abusive, obstructive, harassing, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane, that encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, gives rise to civil liability, or otherwise violates any law.
You expressly authorize GCI and its outside collection agencies or other agents to contact you in connection with any and all matters relating to unpaid past due charges. We may refer your past due account to a collection agency to collect any amounts past due. You agree that if we incur collection or other legal costs as a result of nonpayment, you will be liable for the total past due amount, any returned check fees, and the costs of collection. These costs include, but are not limited to, any collection agency’s fees, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and arbitration or legal costs upon judgment. THIS STATEMENT OF GCI’S RIGHTS TO PURSUE COLLECTIONS DOES NOT LIMIT OR MODIFY YOUR AGREEMENT TO RESOLVE ALL DISPUTES WITH GCI PURSUANT TO PARAGRAPH 20 BELOW.
YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT THE USE OF THE SERVICE AND COMPANY EQUIPMENT, AS WELL AS THE PURCHASE OR USE OF ANY THIRD-PARTY SERVICE OR PRODUCT PROVIDED BY OR ACCESSED THROUGH THE SERVICE, IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK, AND YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS SERVICE AND THE COMPANY EQUIPMENT ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” FOR YOUR USE, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER GCI NOR ANY THIRD-PARTY PROVIDER OF SERVICES OR PRODUCTS MAKES ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE OFFERED THROUGH THE SERVICE, AND GCI WILL NOT BE PARTY TO NOR RESPONSIBLE FOR MONITORING ANY TRANSACTION BETWEEN SUBSCRIBER AND THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE MAY BE SERVICE OUTAGES, LIMITATIONS, AND INTERRUPTIONS AT YOUR LOCATION AND THAT NOT ALL SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE IN ALL LOCATIONS. WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR SERVICE OUTAGES OR FOR SERVICE LIMITATIONS OR INTERRUPTIONS. OUR LIABILITY FOR ANY ACTION OR INACTION WILL IN NO EVENT EXCEED OUR SERVICE CHARGES DURING THE AFFECTED PERIOD. WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL LOSSES OR DAMAGES INCLUDING LOST PROFITS. We are not liable for (i) economic loss or injuries to persons or property arising from use of the Service or any equipment used in connection with the Service; (ii) the installation or repair of the equipment by any parties who are not our employees; or (iii) damages due to use of third-party products or services. We are not liable for any acts associated with the proper exercise of rights under the privacy provisions of this Agreement, including without limitation GCI’s Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein. We are not liable for acts or omissions of another service provider, including without limitation any information they provide through equipment, any modification or failure of equipment caused by them, or for any other causes beyond our reasonable control. This limitation of liability is an agreed-upon benefit of the bargain and remains in effect even if any remedy under the Agreement fails of its essential purpose.
YOU AND GCI AGREE TO SETTLE ALL DISPUTES BETWEEN US BY BINDING ARBITRATION OR, IF APPLICABLE, IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT PURSUANT TO SMALL CLAIMS RULES. YOU AGREE TO NOTIFY US (AND WE AGREE TO NOTIFY YOU) IN WRITING OF THE NATURE OF THE DISPUTE AT LEAST 45 DAYS BEFORE INITIATING BINDING ARBITRATION OR SMALL CLAIMS COURT ACTION. YOU AND GCI WILL ATTEMPT TO RESOLVE THE DISPUTE INFORMALLY. EXCEPT FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT CASES THAT QUALIFY, ANY DISPUTE BETWEEN YOU AND GCI THAT CANNOT BE RESOLVED AFTER 45 DAYS WILL BE FINALLY RESOLVED BY A SINGLE NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FEDERAL ARBITRATION ACT (“FAA”). YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS NO JUDGE OR JURY IN AN ARBITRATION AND THAT YOU WILL HAVE NO RIGHT TO EITHER. YOU ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT THE ABILITY OF PARTIES TO CONDUCT DISCOVERY IS MORE LIMITED IN ARBITRATION THAN IT IS IN COURT. THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S CLAIMS, AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A REPRESENTATIVE OR CLASS PROCEEDING. ANY ARBITRATION OR ACTION IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT MUST BE BROUGHT IN THE PARTY’S INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. IF FOR ANY REASON A DISPUTE IS PERMITTED TO BE BROUGHT IN COURT, WE BOTH AGREE TO WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL IN ANY COURT ACTION.
YOU AND GCI ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THE FAA GOVERNS THIS AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE, THAT THE EXISTENCE AND VALIDITY OF THIS AGREEMENT WILL BE DETERMINED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FAA, THAT ANY ARBITRATION BETWEEN YOU AND GCI WILL BE CONDUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FAA, AND THAT ANY STATE ARBITRATION STATUTE OR PROCEDURE DOES NOT APPLY. THE ARBITRATION WILL BE CONDUCTED BY THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION (“AAA”) UNDER ITS RULES, INCLUDING THE AAA'S SUPPLEMENTARY PROCEDURES FOR CONSUMER-RELATED DISPUTES. THE AAA'S RULES ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.ADR.ORG OR BY CALLING 1-800-778-7879. PAYMENT OF ALL FILING, ADMINISTRATION, AND ARBITRATOR FEES WILL BE GOVERNED BY THE AAA'S RULES. GCI WILL REIMBURSE THOSE FEES FOR CLAIMS TOTALING LESS THAN $10,000 UNLESS THE ARBITRATOR DETERMINES THE CLAIMS ARE FRIVOLOUS. GCI WILL NOT SEEK ATTORNEYS' FEES AND COSTS IN ARBITRATION, UNLESS THE ARBITRATOR DETERMINES THE CLAIMS ARE FRIVOLOUS. YOU MAY CHOOSE TO HAVE THE ARBITRATION CONDUCTED BY TELEPHONE, BASED ON WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS, OR IN PERSON IN THE BOROUGH WHERE YOU LIVE OR AT ANOTHER MUTUALLY AGREED LOCATION.
GCI WILL GIVE YOU AT LEAST 30 DAYS’ ADVANCE NOTICE OF ANY CHANGES TO THIS AGREEMENT OR OUR SERVICE, IF SUCH CHANGE MATERIALLY ADVERSELY AFFECTS YOUR RIGHTS OR OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE AGREEMENT. However, shorter advance notice or no notice may be given if GCI believes that GCI or the Service might be adversely affected if longer notice were given. Notice may be given to you as set forth in Paragraph 22(c). If you do not agree to the amended Agreement, you may terminate the Service by giving us written notice by U.S. Mail within 30 days of the date we notify you. If you use the Service for more than 30 days after we notify you of a change, you agree to the amended Agreement.
These Terms and Conditions and the provisions of any Term Agreement, if applicable, together with any other documents directly or indirectly made a part of these Terms and Conditions, represent the entire agreement between you and us, which may only be amended as described in this Agreement. This Agreement supersedes any inconsistent or additional promises that may have been made to you by any of our representatives, agents, or dealers. If any part of this Agreement is found to be invalid, the balance of the Agreement remains enforceable. GCI does not waive any provision or right if it fails to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement.
We may assign all or part of this Agreement without such assignment being considered a change to the Agreement and without notice to you. Upon any such assignment, we are then released from all liability. You may not assign this Agreement or the Service or Company Equipment furnished under this Agreement without our prior written consent.
GCI may send any required or desired notice under this Agreement by mail to the service address specified in your account, by e-mail, by telephone, or by hand-delivery. Our notice to you may alternatively be provided on your billing statement, in a newspaper, in your online billing account (if applicable), or posted on our website at http://www.gci.com, and if you are a UUI or Supervision customer, http://www.uui-alaska.com/. YOU AGREE THAT ANY ONE OF THE FOREGOING WILL CONSTITUTE SUFFICIENT NOTICE. YOU AGREE TO REGULARLY CHECK YOUR MAIL, E-MAIL, ONLINE BILLING ACCOUNT (IF APPLICABLE), AND ALL POSTINGS ON OUR WEBSITE AND YOU BEAR THE RISK OF FAILING TO DO SO. If you give notice to us, it will be effective when received by us at the following addresses:
For GCI Customers: For UUI and Supervision Customers:
GCI UUI
Attn: Customer Service Attn: Customer Service
2550 Denali St., Suite 1000 P.O. Box 92730
Anchorage, AK 99503 Anchorage, AK 99509
This Agreement is subject to applicable federal laws, and the laws of the State of Alaska without regard to its conflict of law rules. If there is any inconsistency between this Agreement and those laws and regulations, this Agreement will be deemed amended as necessary to conform to such laws and regulations.
You represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age. You may, at your discretion, permit minors to use the Service under adult supervision. You are solely responsible for monitoring all material that is accessed by minors using the Service, and you acknowledge that the Service provides access to content that is unsuitable for minors.