Network Availability
and Uptime. Provider ("Provider")
guarantees one hundred (100%) percent Backbone Network
Uptime with at least ninety-nine (99%) percent sustained
Packet Throughput (PT). To determine compliance, measurements
are taken on a continual basis on the Provider U.S. Domestic
Backbone Network between various combinations of any two
of our Points of Presence (POPs).
A. Network availability
refers to the ability of a Customer to access the Provider
Backbone Network.
B. Provider measures
latency on the Provider Backbone Network. These
measurements are taken as round trip times between core
routers within the Provider POP facilities in the continental
United States. Provider guarantees an average round trip
latency of not more than one hundred and twenty (120ms)
milliseconds. If this standard is not met, Provider will
credit the Customer as detailed in § 6.
C. Network Unavailability
is defined as a packet loss in excess of fifty (50%) percent
for fifteen (15) consecutive minutes or more or one that
exceeds one (1%) percent for two (2) or more consecutive
hours on the Provider Backbone Network. Periodically,
Provider will upgrade or find the need to repair or replace
vital network equipment which interruptions are foreseeable
events common to all First Tier network Providers. Neither
these maintenance events, necessary for providing a consistently
high level of service, nor Customer caused outages or
disruptions beyond Provider's control are considered "Network
Unavailability" as covered by this SLA.
D. Customers must
report Network Unavailability of longer than fifteen (15)
consecutive minutes or the aforementioned packet loss
to Provider Customer Support Center within forty-eight
(48) hours of the event. If the event reported
by the Customer is confirmed by Provider Customer Service,
the Customer will receive a pro-rated service credit as
detailed in § 6. However, the total of any credits
granted for any twenty four (24) hour period may not exceed
one (1) full day's pro-rated fee.
E. Network Unavailability
for Point to Point Leased Line Dedicated Access Customers
caused by a failure due to the Local Exchange Carrier
(LEC) is covered by this SLA for any service with a Provider
ordered local loop circuit. Provider will use
industry standard efforts to remedy any circuit failures
when working with the LEC. The pro-rata discount for this
type of outage is limited to Internet Port access fees
only and will be applied to Customer's invoice as described
in § 6.
F. Network Unavailability
for Frame Relay and Digital Subscriber Link Service caused
by a failure due the to LEC Frame Relay Network or LEC
tail circuits, is not covered by this SLA and Provider
will not be liable for same.
2. Hardware and
Software Monitoring and Uptime. Equipment not
owned and operated by Provider is not directly monitored.
However, indirect monitoring is provided in the form of
a standard Ping Test performed every three hundred (300)
seconds to one (1) IP address per Customer service account.
In the event that two (2) consecutive Ping Tests fail,
Provider will notify Customer in accordance with the standard
notification policy detailed in § 3. However, Provider
will not take any corrective action unless a Maintenance
Agreement between the parties is in effect.
3. Notification
of Outages and Service Interruption Events. Fifteen
(15) minutes after an outage is officially recorded which
occurs when the second Ping Test fails, Provider will
contact Customer's designated representative by e-mail,
phone, or pager. Customers reporting service interruption
events or outages of any kind may use the "Single Point
of Contact" local support telephone number for access
to the twenty-four (24) hour Support Group.
4. Access to Statistics.
Customer will have access to a public web page detailing
Provider Backbone Network availability and latency statistics.
Customers may enter separate agreements for additional
statistics accessible through private web pages with Customer
specific usage statistics as detailed in that agreement.
5. Installation
Interval Guarantee. If Provider is unable to
meet the standard installation interval for any Service,
and Customer has been billed for the full installation
fee (i.e., not discounted), Provider will credit Customer's
account with fifty (50%) percent thereof, excluding any
local loop installation charges. Since Customer may choose
to purchase one of several levels of expedited installation
Service, if Provider fails to meet the purchased installation
deadline, Provider will discount the expedite fee to the
cost associated with whichever interval it meets. For
example, if Customer orders a "Rush" installation package
and Provider meets the "Standard" interval, Provider will
refund the difference between the "Rush" and "Standard"
install fee. In order to qualify for this installation
guarantee, Customer's account must be in good standing.
All these entitlements are subject to Provider's performance
not being precluded by Customer created or force majeure
events.
6. Warranties
and Disclaimers by Provider. Service Level Warranty.
In the event Customer experiences any of the following
and Provider determines in its reasonable judgment that
such inability was caused by Provider's failure to provide
Internet Data Center Services for reasons within Provider's
reasonable control and not as a result of any action or
inaction of Customer or any third parties (including Customer
equipment and/or third party equipment), Provider will,
upon Customer's request in accordance with §6C.,
credit Customer's account as described below:
A. Inability to
Access the Internet (Downtime). If Customer is
unable to transmit and receive information from Provider's
Internet Data Centers (i.e., Provider's LAN and WAN) to
other portions of the Internet because Provider failed
to provide Internet Data Center Services for more than
fifteen (15) consecutive minutes, Provider will credit
Customer's account the pro-rata Provider connectivity
charges (i.e., all bandwidth related charges) for one
(1) day of Service, up to an aggregate maximum credit
of connectivity charges for seven (7) days of Service
in any one calendar (1) month. Provider's scheduled maintenance
of the Internet Data Centers and Internet Data Center
Services, as described in the Policies and Procedures,
shall not be deemed to be a failure of Provider to provide
Internet Data Center Services. Pro-rata daily credits
are limited to one full day's credit per twenty-four (24)
hour Service period.
B. Packet Loss
and Latency. While Provider does not proactively
monitor the packet loss or transmission latency of specific
Customers, Provider does monitor the packet loss and transmission
latency within its LAN and WAN. If Provider discovers
(either from its own efforts or after being notified by
Customer) that Customer is experiencing packet loss in
excess of the level set by the SLA purchased by Customer
("Excess Packet Loss") or transmission latency in excess
of one hundred and twenty (120ms) milliseconds round trip
time (based on Provider's measurements) between any two
POPs within Provider's U.S. network (collectively, "Excess
Latency", and with Excess Packet Loss "Excess Packet Loss/Latency"),
and Customer notifies Provider (or confirms that Provider
has notified Customer), Provider will take all actions
necessary to determine the source of the Excess Packet
Loss/Latency.
(i) Remedy of
Excess Packet Loss/Latency. If the Excess Packet
Loss/Latency remedy is within the sole control of Provider,
Provider will remedy the Excess Packet Loss/Latency within
two (2) hours of determining the source of the Excess
Packet Loss/Latency. If the Excess Packet Loss/Latency
is caused from outside of the Provider LAN or WAN, Provider
will notify Customer and will use industry standard efforts
to notify the party(ies) responsible for the source and
cooperate with it/them to resolve the problem as soon
as possible.
(ii) Failure to
Determine Source and/or Resolve Problem. If Provider
is unable to determine the source of and remedy the Excess
Packet Loss/Latency within the time periods described
above (where Provider was solely in control of the source),
Provider will credit Customer's account the pro-rata Provider
connectivity charges for one (1) day of Service for every
two (2) hours after the time periods described above that
it takes Provider to resolve the problem, up to an aggregate
maximum credit of connectivity charges for seven (7) days
of Service in any one (1) month.
C. NOTE: Customer
Must Request Credit. To receive any applicable
credits, Customer must notify Provider Customer Service
within two (2) business days from the time Customer becomes
eligible to receive a creditor forfeit its right to receive
a credit. Provider will contact Customer to review the
status of the credit request and to determine the applicable
credit, if any, due Customer.
D. Remedies Not
Cumulative - Maximum Credit. In the event that
Customer is entitled to multiple credits arising from
the same event, such credits shall not be cumulative.
Customer shall be entitled to receive only the maximum
single credit available for such event. In no event will
Provider be required to credit Customer in any one (1)
calendar month Provider connectivity charges in excess
of seven (7) days of Service. A credit shall be applied
only to the month in which the incident took place. Customer
shall not be eligible to receive any credits for periods
during which Customer received any Service free of charge.
E. Termination
Option for Chronic Problems. If, in any single
calendar month, Customer would be able to receive credits
totaling fifteen (15) or more days (but for the limitation
in subparagraph D above) resulting from three (3) or more
events during such calendar month or, if any single event
entitling Customer to credits under subparagraph A exists
for a period of eight (8) consecutive hours, then, Customer
may terminate the applicable Service for cause and without
termination fee by notifying Provider within five (5)
days following the end of such calendar month. Termination
will be effective thirty (30) days after receipt of such
notice by Provider.