10/25/2011

General Policies

VTel’s general network management policies adhere to the principles contained in the FCC’s Internet Policy Statement (adopted August 5, 2005), Open Internet Rules (adopted December 21, 2010) and any future internet policies or rules adopted by the FCC. To ensure open access to the Internet, Vermont Telephone Company will:

• Display any network management policies and provide notice to customers of changes to these policies
• Connect to the public internet directly or indirectly, such that our network is not an entirely private closed network
• Offer interconnection, where technically feasible without exceeding current or reasonably anticipated capacity limitations, at reasonable rates and terms to be negotiated with requesting parties. This includes both the ability to connect to the public Internet and physical interconnection for the exchange of traffic

Vermont Telephone Company will not unjustly or unreasonably:

• Favor any lawful internet applications and content over others
• Block, interfere with or degrade a customer’s access to the lawful Internet content of their choice
• Block, interfere with or degrade a customer’s ability to run applications and use services of their choice, subject to the needs of law enforcement
• Block, interfere with or degrade a customer’s ability to connect their choice of legal devices that do not harm the network

Network Security and Traffic Management Policies

Vermont Telephone Company:

• Uses generally accepted technical measures to provide acceptable service levels to all customers
• Utilizes best effort for internet traffic delivery without differentiation among applications, providers, or sources
• Blocks or limits certain types of traffic or activity to protect network integrity and the security of our customers. These include spam, viruses, malware, denial of service attacks and other malicious activities
• Reserves the right to prioritize traffic based on real time and non-real time applications within our network during heavy congestion periods