Network Management Policy

Bright House Networks Broadband Internet Access Services

This document describes the broadband Internet access service offered by Bright House Networks (“BHN”) for residential and small business customers, and discusses three of the key features of that service:

• Service performance
• How BHN manages its network to avoid traffic congestion, to offer multiple services on the same network, and to ensure network security
• Pricing and other commercial terms

This page does not contain all of the terms that apply to BHN’s broadband Internet access services. Those terms are contained in the BHN Acceptable Use Policy and Residential Subscriber Agreement, which are available at: www.brighthouse.com.

This document is intended to provide information to customers who subscribe to BHN’s residential and small business broadband Internet access service to comply with Federal Communications Commission disclosure regulations and to help consumers understand BHN’s different broadband Internet access service offerings.

All of BHN’s broadband Internet services, policies and practices are subject to change. BHN will update this document to reflect such changes.

If you have questions about BHN’s services, including the points discussed here, please contact a BHN customer service representatives or visit www.brighthouse.com.

BHN’S BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS SERVICES

Delivery of Broadband Internet Access Services

BHN offers an array of broadband Internet access services to provide its customers with the capability of connecting to the Internet. BHN’s services are principally offered by means of its hybrid fiber-coax networks in the areas where it provides service. As discussed below, however, in some locations BHN also offers Internet access by means of wireless WiFi technology.

The diagram below shows what is involved in getting access to the Internet, and how BHN provides its broadband Internet access service.

Starting from the right-hand side, an “Application Network” is the network that hosts Internet content or online services. The Application Network, the content, and these services are provided by third parties other than BHN. A “Transit Network,” also provided by third parties, links the Application Network to BHN’s network. BHN’s network connects to equipment in individual homes and offices, shown on the left as a “Home Network.”

The equipment in, and performance of, each of these separate networks affects a consumer’s Internet experience. For example, if a computer in a Home Network can only handle data at one megabit per second, it doesn’t matter how fast BHN’s network is; the consumer will only be able to send and receive data at one megabit per second. If a website on an Application Network only has a one megabit-per-second connection to the Internet data from that website will arrive no faster than one megabit per second, again no matter how fast BHN’s network might be.

BHN manages its network, and its connections to Transit Networks, to ensure that its customers have reliable broadband Internet access at the data rates BHN advertises. Because BHN does not own, control or manage the equipment in Home Networks or in Transit or Application Networks, BHN does not control the overall Internet experience that its customers will receive. That said, BHN is eager to work with its customers to identify the cause of any problems the customers may encounter with their broadband Internet service and to find solutions to those problems.

BHN’s WiFi Service

In addition to the “wired” broadband Internet access service described above, BHN also offers Internet access by means of wireless WiFi services in some locations. These services can be accessed for no additional charge by BHN customers (who must authenticate themselves) or for a fee to non-BHN customers (who pay by credit card). BHN also offers businesses a broadband Internet connection with WiFi access points to allow them to provide WiFi Internet connectivity to their own patrons.

BHN’s WiFi service operates in the same manner as its broadband Internet service, except that in the diagram above, the “Home Network” would be replaced with a “WiFi Access Point.” WiFi-enabled equipment would access the Internet by means of the WiFi Access Point, whether provided directly by BHN or by a BHN business customer offering WiFi to its patrons.

BHN does not limit the wireless devices users can use with the WiFi offering. Customers can use any WiFi-enabled laptop or handheld device to access Bright House’s WiFi service. The customer’s WiFi device must have the ability for the user to enter their credentials to be authenticated.

Other Services

BHN offers broadband Internet access services to large businesses on an individualized basis. The specific characteristics of those services vary from case to case. In addition, BHN offers broadband Internet access services to a number of schools and libraries, at times as part of the federally subsidized “e-rate” program. The specific characteristics of these services as well will vary from case to case. In general, however, all of these services use BHN’s wired Internet access network and are configured in a manner similar to that described here.

SERVICE PERFORMANCE

Overview of BHN’s Broadband Internet Access Services

BHN offers a variety of different broadband Internet service plans in each of its service areas. The plans available in each area can be found at www.brighthouse.com. The plans in each area are sold under various brand names. The lowest data rate BHN offers is a 768 kbps plan, available in some but not all areas. The highest data rate BHN offers for residential customers is a 40 mbps plan, and 50 mbps plan for small business customers. These plans are available in some but not all areas.

In some areas and for some services, customers may also use technology branded “PowerBoost” that enables the customer to temporarily experience Internet download speeds up to 50 percent faster per second than the quickest download speed of the service to which it applies.

Performance

As described below under Network Management, BHN continuously monitors its network to ensure that conditions of network congestion do not develop. As a result, on BHN’s own network, customers receive the data rates for which their service has been configured. The data rates at which particular distant websites or other Internet resources may be downloaded, or the data rates at which customer information may be uploaded to a distant website or Internet location will be affected by factors beyond BHN’s control, including the speed of the connection from a distant web server to the Internet, congestion on intermediate networks, and/or limitations on the customer’s own computer equipment.

BHN encourages all of its customers to consider the capabilities of their equipment when deciding which of BHN broadband service to buy. It may be that a customer will need to upgrade the computers and wireless or other networks in their own homes or offices to take full advantage of the speeds that BHN’s network can provide.

BHN will provide additional information here from time to time regarding the specific performance of its network.

BHN’s WiFi Services

Additional factors apply to BHN’s WiFi services because such services are configured somewhat differently from wired services. The link from a BHN WiFi access point to the Internet via BHN’s wired network is configured in a manner similar to any other BHN broadband Internet access service. However, WiFi uses unlicensed wireless spectrum that is shared among many users for a range of purposes, which will result in wide variability of usage characteristics.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT

BHN’s network management approach is to add network capacity as needed so that its network delivers to customers the bandwidth and data speeds they are paying for, even when many customers are using the network at the same time. The key to accomplishing this goal is to carefully watch how much data customers are sending over the network and to add capacity well before any customer’s uploads or downloads get delayed as a result of network congestion. Specifically, BHN continuously monitors the usage of its broadband network throughout each day. If any portion of the network appears to be experiencing sustained usage levels that would, if growth continued, result in network congestion, BHN takes steps to increase the capacity of those portions of the network in order to prevent congestion from occurring.

Giving Priority To Different Applications And Services

BHN does not discriminate against or otherwise prevent you or other users of its service from sending and receiving the lawful content of your choice; running lawful applications and using lawful services of your choice; or connecting your choice of legal devices to the service, provided that such applications and services do not harm the network or the provision of broadband Internet access services, facilitate theft of service, or harm other users of the service. Similarly, BHN does not impair or degrade particular content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.

By actively monitoring network usage and making capacity upgrades before usage hits a level that would cause congestion, BHN has been able to avoid implementing rules that give some kinds of network traffic priority over other kinds of traffic. However, while this situation has not occurred, BHN has configured its network so that data associated with BHN’s voice telephone service would priority over other data, were a situation of congestion to develop.

Note that BHN’s video (cable TV) services are not affected by these considerations. BHN’s video services are delivered using the same physical network as its data services, but as a technical matter they use different network capacity (different light frequencies in the portion of the network that uses optical fiber, and different electrical frequencies in the portion of the network that uses coaxial cable) than the data services use. No amount of usage of BHN’s video services will affect the amount of capacity available for its data services, and no amount of usage of BHN’s data services will affect the amount of capacity used by its video services.

Network Security Measures

BHN actively seeks to address the threats posed by harmful and unwanted traffic and to protect the security of its network and its customers. Unfortunately, there are people and businesses that try to use the Internet for harmful purposes. For example, malicious software (often referred to as “malware”) such as viruses, worms, spyware, and distributed denial of service (“DDoS”) attacks not only can adversely affect the network, but also can result in harm to customers’ computers, compromise their data, and harm third parties as well. Unwanted communications such as spam can lead to similar problems.

BHN provides a range of tools to its customers to enable them to respond to such risks, offering both free and premium options for anti-virus and anti-phishing software, spyware, and adware. All inbound email is scanned for viruses, and messages found to contain viruses are discarded. In addition, BHN may limit outbound emails to a set number of messages a day in order to identify and block known spammers, consistent with standard industry practices. All inbound email is spam-scanned, and messages tagged as spam are deposited in a special spam folder, accessible by webmail.

If BHN observes such traffic patterns in its customers’ computers, BHN may temporarily cut those computers off from network access until the situation is resolved.

Attaching Different Devices To Our Network

BHN allows use of a broad range of qualified, DOCSIS-compatible modems in connection with its broadband services, and adjusts its practices as new equipment is introduced in the marketplace. As described above, BHN’s network conforms to the DOCSIS 3.0 industry standard. An approved device that a customer chooses to connect to the network must be able to work with DOCSIS 3.0 protocols and signaling formats in order to work properly. Also, older devices that were not designed to conform to the DOCSIS 3.0 standard may not be able to make use of all of the features available using the network. Information about the DOCSIS 3.0 standard is available at: www.cablelabs.com/cablemodem/specifications/specifications30.html.

BHN’s WiFi Services

Subject to the special characteristics of WiFi connections by users, discussed above, BHN applies the same network management approach to its WiFi offerings as to the rest of its broadband Internet access services.

PRICING AND OTHER TERMS

Pricing

As noted above, BHN offers an array of broadband Internet access services. The specific terms of service for BHN’s different offerings, including prices, are spelled out in the materials specific to each service. You can read those specific terms by accessing them at www.brighthouse.com and clicking on the “My Services” header.

BHN offers its broadband Internet access services in competition with other providers. This means that BHN changes its prices from time to time to respond to competition, and that from time to time BHN offers special promotional prices and offers. Please visit our website, www.brighthouse.com to learn about any current promotions or other special offers that may be available.

Privacy

BHN’s policies regarding the privacy of its customers’ information is available at www.brighthouse.com/corporate/policies/default.

More Information; Handling Questions Or Concerns

If you have any questions about BHN’s services, including the network management practices described here, and wish to contact a customer service representative, please visit Bright House Networks Customer Support page at http://www.brighthouse.com, then click on the header “Support”. If you have any complaints regarding those network management practices, you are encouraged first to contact BHN’s Customer Service representatives in order to address any questions. Otherwise, please utilize the complaint procedures set forth in the Terms of Service applicable to your service.

If you are a provider of applications, network services, or online content, and you have any questions or concerns about BHN’s services or its network management practices, please contact BHN at www.brighthouse.com, then click on the header “Contact Us.” The Federal Communications Commission has established rules governing network management practices and has procedures in place for handling complaints regarding those practices. If BHN is unable to resolve your situation, information describing how to file a complaint with the FCC is available at the FCC’s website, www.fcc.gov.