SEMO COMMUNICATIONS INCORPORATED
BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICE DISCLOSURES

Consistent with FCC regulations,[1] SEMO Communications, Incorporated (“SEMO Communications”) provides this information about our broadband Internet access services.  We call these services our “Cable Rocket High Speed Internet.”  We welcome questions or comments about this information.  You may contact us at (800) 635-8230, (573) 471-6599, or email us at semosupport@cablerocket.com.

NETWORK PRACTICES

General description.  We provide a variety of High Speed Internet offerings to our residential and business customers.  We provide the service over our broadband network and through third party fiber optic lines connecting to the Internet.  We also contract with one or more companies for certain network monitoring and management services. We monitor our network and traffic patterns and make changes we deem necessary to manage and improve overall network performance.  We use reasonable, nondiscriminatory, network management practices to improve overall network performance to ensure a high-quality online experience for all users.  Our network management practices do not target any specific content, application, service, or device.  As network management issues arise and as technology develops, we may employ additional or new network management practices.  We will update these disclosures as necessary.

Related documents and disclosures.  Use of our High Speed Internet is also governed by: 

·                     Cable Rocket High Speed Internet Service Acceptable Use Policy, available at http://semocommunications.com/policy.htm.

Congestion management.  We describe in this section network management practices used to address congestion on our network.

Congestion management practices used.

Network monitoring.  We monitor our network for utilization trends.  We receive regular reports showing changes in network traffic and congestion.  We use this information to plan increases in bandwidth available, port additions, or additional connectivity to the Internet.

Bandwidth trends.  Through our third party provider, we receive reports showing end user usage for identification and of bandwidth trends, in particular, those customers using a substantially disproportionate amount of bandwidth in a thirty (30) day period.  We currently use this information to monitor network utilization trends and notify these users.  If the trend continues, we may perform virus scans to determine the source of the disproportionately high bandwidth usage.  We currently do not manage these users’ Internet traffic.

Our third party provider may engage in additional practices to preserve adequate bandwidth availability and efficiently allocate shared resources by limiting the bandwidth available to users that use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth.  This may result in these users experiencing slower transmission speeds.

Types of traffic affected.  Our congestion management practices affect all traffic equally. 

Purposes of congestion management practices.  Our High Speed Internet network is a shared network.  This means that our customers share upstream and downstream bandwidth.  The goal of our congestion management practices is to enable better network availability and speeds for all users.  Our congestion management practices serve to:

·         Help us adapt and upgrade our network to maintain or improve network performance as demand for our High Speed Internet increases.

·         Help us adapt and upgrade our network to maintain or improve network performance as demand for higher bandwidth applications increases.  Some examples of higher bandwidth applications are gaming, streaming movies, and streaming high definition video.

·         Help us identify potential bandwidth abusers using a disproportionate amount of bandwidth.

Congestion management criteria. 

Network monitoring.  Our network monitoring provides data to help us plan upgrades to our network, equipment, technology, and connectivity to the Internet.  As demand for our High Speed Internet increases, and as demand for higher bandwidth applications increases, we monitor effects on network performance and plan upgrades as we deem necessary.  We have not established specific criteria to govern our upgrade decisions.

Bandwidth trends.  We examine reports provided by our third party provider showing end user usage for identification of those customers using a substantially disproportionate amount of bandwidth within a thirty (30) day period. We currently use this information to monitor network utilization trends and notify these users. 

Effects on end user experience.  Because our High Speed Internet network is a shared network, periods of high network demand may result in Internet traffic congestion.  End users may experience reduced bandwidth or speed during these times.

Typical frequency of congestion.  Although infrequent because of our efforts to monitor and upgrade our network to accommodate customers’ demands for increased bandwidth, congestion may occur during periods of peak demand for higher bandwidth applications.  We encourage our customers to contact customer support to remedy any issues they experience with Internet traffic congestion.

Application-Specific Practices. This section discloses any application-specific practices we use, if any.

Management of specific protocols or protocol ports.  We may block specific protocols or protocol ports if our network comes under attack from viruses or other “malware.”  In such cases, we may block that specific port until the attack ceases, at which time we remove the block.  Our third party provider may also block protocols or ports that pose potential harms to our network and end users.

Modification of protocol fields.   Not applicable.

Applications or classes of applications inhibited or favored.  Not applicable.

Device Attachment Rules.  This section addresses any limitations on attaching lawful devices to our network.

General restrictions on types of devices to connect to network.  We place no general restrictions on lawful devices that a customer may connect our network, so long as the device is: (i) compatible with our network; and (ii) does not harm our network or other users.  Our High Speed Internet service works with most types of PCs and laptops including Macs, and other Internet compatible devices like game systems and Internet-enabled TVs.  If a wireless router is connected to our High Speed Internet service, wireless Internet compatible devices including computers, tablets, smartphones, and other devices can connect to our network.  If a customer or potential customer believes they have an unusual configuration, our customer service department will help determine if there is a compatibility problem. 

Cable Modems.  Our High Speed Internet requires connection of a cable modem to our network.  You can obtain a cable modem from us or you may purchase one from most retail electronics sellers.  Only devices that have been fully certified by CableLabs as compliant with the DOCSIS 1.1, DOCSIS 2.0 or DOCSIS 3.0 specifications may be used. 

Network and End User Security.  This section provides a general description of the practices we use to maintain security of our network.

Practices used to ensure end user security, including triggering conditions. 

Hostile port blocking:  We may block known hostile ports to prevent unwanted files, browser hacking and virus attacks. Our third party provider may also block protocols or ports that pose potential harms to our end users.

Virus and Spam filtering:  We offer email and personal web site hosting.  We use a third party provider to filter Cable Rocket email and website traffic for virus activity and Spam using industry standard virus scanning and prevention techniques.  Should an email message be found to contain a virus or other harmful content, we may (i) notify the sender and/or the intended recipient(s) and quarantine the message or (ii) delete the message without notification. 

Practices used to ensure security of the network, including triggering conditions. 

Hostile port blocking:  We may block known hostile ports to prevent unwanted files, browser hacking and virus attacks.  Our third party provider may also block protocols or ports that pose potential harms to our network.

Virus and Spam filtering:  We offer email and personal web site hosting.  Our third party service provider filters CableRocket email and website traffic for virus activity and Spam using industry standard virus scanning and prevention techniques. 

PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS

 General Service Description.  Our High Speed Internet service enables a customer to connect an Internet-enabled device through either a wired or wireless connection.  Our High Speed Internet includes wiring, a cable modem and a network interface card (NIC) for the personal computer, if required.    Through our High Speed Internet service, we serve as a local Internet service provider.  Our High Speed Internet service enables residential and commercial subscribers to access all lawful content, applications, and services of their choice available on the Internet.

 Through our High Speed Internet, we serve as a local Internet service provider.  Our High Speed Internet enables residential and commercial subscribers to access all lawful content, applications, and services of their choice available on the Internet. 

 Service technology.  We deliver our High Speed Internet over our hybrid fiber-coaxial network using the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS).  Customers access our network using cable modems.  To connect from our network to the Internet, we use equipment called a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS) that acts as a gateway to the Internet for our customers’ cable modems.  This is a shared network, which means that our customers share upstream and downstream bandwidth.           

 Expected and actual speeds and latency.

 Expected performance.  We offer customers a variety High Speed Internet service levels.  We provide a description of the expected maximum transfer speeds associated with each service level on our website, available at http://semocommunications.com/internet1.htm. We overprovision all Internet service levels approximately 5% to ensure customers generally experience the maximum the transfer speeds associated with the level of service they purchase. 

Speed.  The speeds we identify for each High Speed Internet service level are the maximum upload and download speeds that customers are likely to experience.  We provision our customers’ modems and engineer our network to deliver the speeds to which our customers subscribe.  However, we do not guarantee that a customer will actually achieve those speeds at all times.  A variety of factors can affect upload and download speeds, including customer equipment, network equipment, congestion in our network, congestion beyond our network, performance issues with an Internet application, content, or service, and more.

Latency.  Latency is another measurement of Internet performance.  Latency is the time delay in transmitting or receiving packets on a network.  Latency is primarily a function of the distance between two points of transmission, but also can be affected by the quality of the network or networks used in transmission.  Latency is typically measured in milliseconds, and generally has no significant impact on typical everyday Internet usage. As latency varies based on any number of factors, most importantly the distance between a customer's computer and the ultimate Internet destination (as well as the number and variety of networks your packets cross), it is not possible to provide customers with a single figure that will define latency as part of a user experience.

Actual speed and latency performance.  Actual speed and latency may vary depending upon network conditions and other factors.  Actual performance of our High Speed Internet in most cases will conform to national wireline broadband Internet speed and latency levels reported by the FCC.[2]  The FCC has reported that customers of coaxial cable-based broadband Internet services receive mean download speeds that are within 93% of advertised speeds during non-peak hours, and 85.7% of advertised speeds during peak hours.[3] In addition, the FCC has reported that these same customers experience average latency[4] delays of 28 milliseconds, increasing by an average of 30 milliseconds during peak hours. [ 

Suitability of the Service for Real-time Applications.  Our High Speed Internet service is suitable for typical real-time applications including messaging, voice applications, video chat applications, gaming, and Internet video.  If users or developers have questions about particular real-time applications, please contact us at (800) 635-8230 or (573) 471-6599.

 Specialized Services.

 Specialized services offered to end users. We offer several managed services over our network, sharing network capacity with other high speed Internet services. Managed services include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and dedicated bandwidth to high volume business users. 

 Effects of specialized services on availability and performance of broadband Internet access service.  Our managed services have no effect on the availability and performance of our High Speed Internet.

 COMMERCIAL TERMS

 Prices.  Monthly prices for our High Speed Internet are available on our website at http://semocommunications.com/internet1.htm.

 Usage-based fees.   We offer multiple tiers of service, with prices based on data usage. We charge $1.00 per gigabyte for data usage in excess of the customer’s data usage plan.

 Fees for early termination.  Not applicable.

 Fees for additional network services. Fees for certain additional network services are available at http://semocommunications.com/internet1.htm.

 Privacy Policies.  We do not disclose High Speed Internet service customer or use information to third parties except: (i) as necessary to provide our High Speed Internet service and to manage our network; or (ii) in response to law enforcement requests, court order, or as otherwise required or authorized by law.

 Inspection of network traffic.  We routinely monitor network and traffic patterns.

Virus and Spam filtering.  We use a third party provider to filter Cable Rocket email and website traffic for virus activity and Spam using industry standard virus scanning and prevention techniques.  Should an email message be found to contain a virus or other harmful content, we may (i) notify the sender and/or the intended recipient(s) and quarantine the message or (ii) delete the message without notification. 

Storage of network traffic information.  Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) information is a code included in all network traffic that associates that traffic with a particular cable modem sending or receiving the traffic.  We do not store DHCP information.  Our third party provider may store DHCP information. 

Provision of network traffic information to third parties.  We may disclose network traffic information to third parties solely for purposes of providing and maintain our High Speed Internet service or if required by law.

Use of network traffic information for non-network management purposes.  Not applicable.

Redress Options.

Practices for resolving end-user and edge provider complaints and questions.  End users or edge providers with complaints or questions relating to these disclosures should contact us at (800) 635-8230 or (573) 471-6599 or semosupport@cablerocket.com.

Questions. We will endeavor to answer questions promptly via email or voice.

Complaints.  For written complaints, we will provide an initial response in writing within 15 business days of receipt.  We will attempt to resolve complaints informally, escalating the matter to senior management if needed.

For more information feel free to contact us at.....

Or e-mail us at SEMO                               
Last modified: May 15, 2012