II. General Policies

A. Wabash Mutual Telephone is committed to an open internet and will not unjustly or unreasonably:

  • Block, interfere with or degrade an end user’s ability to access, use, send, post, receive, or offer lawful content (including fair use), applications, or services of the user’s choice;
  • Block, interfere with or degrade an end user’s ability to connect and use the end user’s choice of legal devices that do not harm the network;
  • Prevent or interfere with competition among network, application, service or content providers;
  • Engage in discrimination against any lawful Internet content application, service or service provider with respect to network management practices, network performance characteristics, or commercial terms and conditions;
  • Give preference to affiliated content, applications, or services with respect to network management practices, network performance characteristics, or commercial terms and conditions;
  • Charge a content, application, or service provider for access to the company’s broadband Internet access service and end users based on differing levels of quality of service or prioritized delivery of Internet protocol packets;
  • Prioritize among or between content, application and services, or among or between different types of content, application, and service unless the end user requests to have such prioritization.

B. Wabash Mutual Telephone will:

  • Provide connection and transport services to the public Internet to customers;
  • Negotiate in good faith with all requesting parties making a bona fide request of interconnection or wholesale services;
  • Provide rates and terms for interconnection that are reasonable and nondiscriminatory

 

III. Network Security and Congestion Management Policies

For the Safety and privacy of our access customers and with respect for all customers, Wabash Mutual Telephone:

  • Utilizes standard industry practices for safeguarding children, intellectual property rights and our customer’s privacy and security;
  • Follows standard best efforts for Internet delivery with respect to the allocation of capacity without differentiation among applications, providers, or sources;
  • Complies with applicable laws and regulations, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, with requires the consent of parent or guardian for the collection of personally identifiable information of children under 13;
  • Uses generally accepted technical measures to provide acceptable service levels to all customers, such as application-neutral bandwidth allocation, as well as measures to address services attacks, illegal content, and other harmful activities to protect network integrity and reliability; and
  • Reserves the right to prioritize traffic based on real-time and non-real-time applications during heavy congestion periods based on generally accepted technical measures.

 

IV. Commercial Pricing

Please check our website for pricing information.

Contact Information: If you have any questions about the Wabash Mutual Telephone Network Management Policies, you can contact us by calling our business office at 419-942-1111 or writing us at 6670 Wabash Road, Celina, OH 45822. You can also contact us by email at info@wabash.com

 

 

Broadband Label Policy

Why is Wabash providing Broadband Labels?

Wabash has always been honest and transparent with our products and pricing. Broadband Labels were designed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide clear, easy-to-understand, and accurate information about the cost and performance of internet services. These labels are now required by the FCC to be displayed by all internet service providers.

Why is the Wabash Broadband Label important?

With the 2024 FCC requirement of broadband labels, all internet providers are required to be more transparent with their fees, promotional prices, typical upload and download speeds, and latency. As a result, you can easily compare between internet providers and choose the best plan for you.

What plans are labels created for?

Labels are created for standalone residential and business internet plans currently offered to new customers.

Where & how are labels displayed and distributed?

Website:

  • Broadband labels are displayed at the point of sale upon entering an address in our SmartHub online system for internet plans, where a consumer can sign up online.

Office:

  • A link or QR code will be available in the office to view internet plans.
  • Public WiFi is available to view the labels.
  • If the consumer is not able to view the label electronically, a paper copy of the label will be provided.
  • If the consumer has access to the internet, a label or link will be emailed to them.
  • The URL for the machine-readable label can be displayed electronically as well.

Phone:

  • Consumers can be directed to view the packages and labels as the representative is discussing the options.
  • If the customer has access to the internet, a label or link will be emailed to them.
  • If the customer has access to the internet, the customer can be given the machine-readable URL to view the label information.
  • If the consumer does not have internet access, a copy of the label can be mailed.
  • The label can be read over the phone in its entirety to the customer.

Online Account Portal:

  • Customers with access to the SmartHub online account can view their current internet broadband label. The labels are located under the My Services section.

Machine Readable:

What options are available for ADA requests for a label?

  • Increase font size on the label
  • Verbally reading the label
  • Additional customer requests will be reviewed to determine if possible.

How long will Wabash keep Broadband Labels?

Wabash will maintain an archive of all labels for a period of no less than two years from the time the service plan is no longer available for purchase by a new customer, and Wabash has removed the label from our website and alternate sales channels (e.g., office location and over the phone).

Will Wabash create labels for Grandfathered plans?

The FCC requires that ISPs display labels for plans currently offered to new customers. ISPs are not required to create and display labels for services used by current customers that are no longer available to new customers.

Will Wabash notify customers when a term changes on the label?

Wabash will follow its normal customer notification process to inform customers about a change in their service or pricing.

What is a Unique Plan Identifier?

Each internet plan has a unique number to identify the plan. UPI’s cannot be reused after a plan is discontinued. They are made up of the following elements:

Plan Type: Identifies the broadband as Fixed (F) or Mobile (M)
FRN: Company specific FCC Registration Number
Billing Code: C&C associated with internet plan
Internet Type: As much of the internet technology type until the UPI contains 26 characters.

Example: F-0004333266-MF7DR-FIBERINTER
*Actual does not contain hyphens

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HISTORY

Where did the broadband labels come from?

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, among other things, directs the FCC to require broadband internet access service providers to display, in the form of labels, certain information regarding their broadband internet access service plans. The law further provides that labels shall make clear whether the offered price is an introductory rate and, if so, what the consumer must pay after the introductory period ends.

What is the intent of the broadband label?

Access to clear, easy-to-understand, and accurate information about broadband internet access services helps consumers make informed choices and is central to a well-functioning marketplace that encourages competition, innovation, low prices, and high-quality service. A label associated with standalone broadband service will provide important information to consumers when selecting a provider and plan.

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BROADBAND LABEL REQUIREMENTS

Do the labels need to be machine-readable?

Providers are required to make the label content available in a machine-readable format on their websites. Providers should make each label’s information available by providing the information separately in a spreadsheet file format such as .csv. These files should be made available on a provider’s website via a dedicated URL that contains all of a provider’s given labels. The FCC requires providers to publicize the URL with the label data in the transparency disclosures.

Do the labels need to meet ADA or foreign language requirements?

The label must be accessible to people with disabilities and non-English speakers. The FCC strongly encourages providers to comply with the well-established legal requirements included in the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

The FCC requires providers to make labels available in any other language in which the ISP markets its services in the United States. For example, if the ISP’s marketing materials on its website are available in Spanish, the Spanish version of the website must also display the associated broadband labels in Spanish.

Is a glossary of terms required?

The FCC requires that providers include a link to the FCC’s website at the bottom of all broadband labels. The Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) will post a web page with a glossary of terms used on the label. Companies do not need to maintain their own glossary of terms.

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WHEN ARE BROADBAND LABELS REQUIRED

Are Broadband Labels required for every internet service offering?

Broadband Labels are required for any mass-market retail residential and business internet-only service offering to new customers. If the internet is part of a bundle, no label is currently required.

Are labels required for Enterprise Offerings or Special Access Services?

The FCC determined that “mass-market retail services” does not include enterprise service offerings or special access services, which are typically offered to larger organizations through customized or individually negotiated arrangements.

Are labels required for Grandfathered plans?

The FCC requires that ISPs display labels for plans currently offered to new customers. ISPs are not required to create and display labels for services used by current customers that are no longer available to new customers.

When do the labels need to be displayed?

The FCC’s rules require that ISPs display the label for each standalone broadband internet access service they currently offer for purchase at the point of sale. This includes websites, alternate sales channels, and online account portals. Broadband labels do not need to be included on mass marketing channels or before customers specify their service location.

How is the point of sale defined?

ISPs must display the label at the “point of sale,” which is defined as at the time a consumer begins investigating and comparing broadband service offerings available at their location. This is the time at which the consumer views specific broadband plans available to them at their service location (often after the consumer enters address information on the provider’s website or conveys it to a sales representative).

What are the website’s point of sale rules?

The primary web page considered the point of sale is where consumers begin to shop for and compare broadband service offerings available at their location. Providers must display the labels on their websites after the consumer enters any required service location information, but labels do not need to be included on mass marketing channels or prior to customers specifying their service location.

Once the consumer has entered location information, the label must appear on the provider’s web page that identifies the plans available to the consumer. Providers must display the actual label—not simply an icon or a link to the label—in close proximity to the associated plan advertisement.

Providers are not required to use any particular font size for the label information. However, providers should ensure that the labels are prominently displayed on any device on which the consumer accesses and views the labels, including mobile devices.

Do labels need to be available in the online account portals?

ISPs that offer online account portals to their customers must make each customer’s label easily accessible to the customer in such portals. After purchasing broadband service for which the ISP provided a label, consumers should be able to easily access and review the terms of their existing plans to ensure they are receiving the services and price they agreed to at the time of purchase.

Do labels need to be printed on a customer’s bill?

The FCC has no requirement to print the label on the customer’s bill.

Are labels required for E-RATE or RHC Plans?

The FCC defines “point of sale” for purposes of the E-Rate and RHC programs as the time when a service provider submits its bid to a program participant. Thus, the FCC requires E-Rate and RHC providers to provide a label along with any competitive bids submitted pursuant to the E-Rate or RHC Program competitive bidding process. In the limited instances in which a service provider provides services without submitting a bid and has not yet provided a label to the E-Rate or RHC applicant, the label must be provided with the first invoice it submits to the applicant.

This applies to mass-market broadband-only services offered in the E-Rate and RHC programs where program participants purchase a standard ‘off-the-shelf’ internet access service. Customized or individually negotiated arrangements do not require a label and such services are not covered by the label disclosure requirements.

Are ISPs required to notify customers when a term changes on the label?

ISPs do not need to notify customers directly about changes to the terms and conditions in the displayed labels.

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BROADBAND LABEL RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

How long do I have to keep Broadband Labels?

ISPs must maintain an archive of all labels for a period of no less than two years from the time the service plan reflected in the label is no longer available for purchase by a new subscriber and the provider has removed the label from its website or alternate sales channels.

The provider must provide any archived label to the Commission, upon request, within 30 days. It must similarly provide any archived label to an existing customer whose service plan is associated with the particular label upon request and within 30 days. ISPs must archive evidence sufficient to support the accuracy of the labels’ content, such as the data that supported the performance information that appeared on the label, along with any links to relevant network management practices and privacy policies.

What are the requirements for Documenting Customer Interaction?

Providers shall document each instance when it directs a consumer to a label at an alternate sales channel and retain such documentation for two years. As an alternative to documenting each consumer interaction, a provider may, instead: 1) establish the business practices and processes it will follow in distributing the label through alternative sales channels; 2) retain training materials and related business practice documentation for two years; and 3) provide such information to the Commission upon request, within 30 days. Wabash will use the Alternative to documenting each consumer interaction by following the three criteria.

What are the requirements of the Unique Plan Identifier?

The FCC requires ISPs to develop unique identifiers for each of their plans and attach them to the broadband label. The unique identifier should consist of a unique ID for fixed plan or mobile plan (“F” for fixed plans and “M” for mobile plans), followed by the broadband provider’s FCC Registration Number (Providers must use the FCC Registration Number that is used when submitting data to the Broadband Data Collection), and ending with a provider-chosen string of precisely 15 alphanumeric characters uniquely identifying the specific plan within the broadband provider’s offerings. The Unique Plan Identifier shall not include special characters such as &, *, and %. Additionally, reuse of identifiers must not occur; even if a given plan is no longer offered, its string should not be repurposed for a new or different plan.

 

REFERENCES

A copy of the Broadband Label Order, is available at: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-requires-broadband-providers- display-labels-help-consumers/

A copy of the Federal Register Summary of the Broadband Label Order is available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-12-16/pdf/2022-26854.pdf

A copy of the Order on Reconsideration is available at: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-declines-reconsider- broadband-consumer-label-rules/

A copy of the Federal Register Summary of the Order on Reconsideration is available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-09-18/pdf/2023-20115.pdf

A copy of the Federal Register Summary announcing compliance dates of rules in the Order on Reconsideration is available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-10-10/pdf/2023-21682.pdf

A copy of the Public Notice announcing the compliance dates for the rules is available at: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-23-943A1.pdf

A copy of the Public Notice updating compliance obligations for inclusion of the ACP on labels is available at: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-24-195A1.pdf

Additional resources on the broadband label requirements are available at: https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandlabels/

 

Federal Communications Commission
Washington, DC 20554

May 14, 2024

DA24-459
SMALL ENTITY COMPLIANCE GUIDE

Empower Broadband Consumers Through Transparency
Broadband Consumer Labesl

FCC 22-86, Released November 17, 2022
FCC 23-68, Released August 29, 2023
CG Docket No. 22-2