IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT THE EMERGENCY BROADBAND BENEFIT FROM TRUCONNECT
TruConnect Consumer Broadband Disclosure
TruConnect Communications, Inc. (“TruConnect”) supports the Open Internet, and is committed to offering reliable access services that will allow our customers to take full advantage of all of the lawful content and services available on the Internet. At the same time, we are committed to an excellent customer experience, and we may engage in reasonable network management practices on our broadband Internet access services and devices (the “Services”).
The purpose of this disclosure is to provide information regarding the network management practices, the performance characteristics, and the commercial terms of our broadband Internet services to enable you to make informed choices regarding the purchase and use of our services, in accordance with the open Internet policies and rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This document is intended to be informational and does not replace or alter the legal terms and conditions of our service, which can be found here.
Our description of these network management practices—and those of our underlying carriers—are for informational purposes only and are subject to change at any time. Please check back regularly for updates.
TruConnect strives to keep its customers fully informed of TruConnect’s network operations by taking the following steps:
TruConnect Emergency Broadband Benefit Program Terms & Conditions
Per these terms, you authorize TruConnect and its contracted partners, for the purpose of applying for, determining eligibility, enrolling in and seeking reimbursement of Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBBP) service and device benefits, to collect, use, share and retain your personal information, including but not limited to information required for the purpose of establishing eligibility for and enrolling in the Lifeline program, and including, but not limited to, full name, full residential address, date of birth, last four digits of social security number, telephone number, eligibility criteria and status, the date on which the EBBP service discount was initiated and if applicable, terminated, EBBP connected device distribution date/type/make and model/status, usage status and other compliance requirements, the amount of support being sought for the service and/or device, and information necessary to establish identity and verifiable address, to the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to ensure proper administration of the EBBP service and/or connected device benefits. Failure to provide consent will result in your being denied the Emergency Broadband Benefit service and/or the connected device benefits.
In the event that I am already receiving an Emergency Broadband benefit from another provider, I authorize the transfer of my Emergency Broadband benefit from my current provider to TruConnect. I acknowledge that once the transfer to TruConnect is complete I will lose my Emergency Broadband benefit with my former service provider. I further acknowledge that TruConnect has explained that I cannot have multiple Emergency Broadband benefits with the same or different service providers.
You also agree that any state, local, Tribal government, school or school district, may share information about your receipt of benefits that would establish eligibility for the EBBP, and that such information will be used only to determine EBB eligibility.
Your agreement with these terms and conditions also gives express consent for TruConnect and its contracted partners to contact you to validate your eligibility for or desire to participate in TruConnect’s EBB offers, and other products and services via email, telephone, or text messaging. Text messaging and data rates may apply. Consent for calls and texts is optional and can be revoked at any time. For more information see our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
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Congestion Management. TruConnect strives to provide our customers with superior access to the Internet via the resale of our underlying carriers’ networks. However, because bandwidth is a limited resource, it is essential that TruConnect and TruConnect's underlying carriers reasonably manage network resources to promote the use and enjoyment of the Internet by all of our customers. TruConnect uses industry-standard methods to allow our customers to get the optimum use from our network, while preventing our customers from being subjected to risks that degrade service. As a reseller, we have very limited ability to influence the network management decisions of our underlying carriers. When congestion occurs, subscribers may experience reduced throughput or speed compared to non-congested times. Your data may be subject to our underlying carriers’ network management and open Internet practices.
In addition to the foregoing, TruConnect requires its end users to adhere to its Terms and Conditions, and monitors the use of its network to remain vigilant for excessive or abusive use of its services. From time to time, TruConnect’s underlying carriers may alert the Company of specific users whose usage is not acceptable to the underlying carrier or is determined to constitute usage that could pose a security or liability issue. In these instances, TruConnect proceeds in accordance with instructions from the underlying carrier regarding discontinuance of service.
Management of Your Service. No matter which TruConnect Internet service offering you choose, you may access and use the legal content, applications and services of your choice regardless of their source. You may also connect with your choice of technically-compatible devices, so long as they are legal, permitted by the underlying carrier of TruConnect to which you seek to connect your device, and do not disrupt TruConnect’s networks or harm other users. For more information, you can review our Terms and Conditions here.
Privacy and Security. TruConnect takes the security of our subscribers very seriously. Our underlying carriers proactively monitor network activity to help guard against a wide range of security threats, including viruses, botnets, worms, distributed denial of service attacks, SPAM, and other harmful activity. However, due to the inherent nature of the Internet as an open global communications vehicle, and our role as a reseller, we cannot guarantee that information, during transmission through the Internet or while stored on our system or otherwise in our care, will be safe from intrusion by others, such as hackers. We therefore urge our customers to employ their own industry-standard tools and generally accepted best practices and policies to protect themselves from spam, phishing, and other unwanted or harmful online content and activities. More information on TruConnect's Privacy Policy may be found here.
Performance Characteristics. TruConnect offers mobile broadband Internet access service using its underlying carriers’ 3G, 4G, and 4G LTE networks. These networks are designed to be suitable for real-time applications, including voice and video applications. However, actual network experience may vary depending on a variety of technical, geographic, environmental, and other factors.
Speed, as used here, means the average rate at which data packets are successfully delivered to their destination on the communications network. Latency, as used here, is the time that a data packet takes to travel from one point to another on the Internet, expressed in terms of round-trip time. Typical speeds—expressed in megabits per second (“Mbps”)—and round-trip latency—expressed in milliseconds (“ms”)—are as follows:
| Technology | Download Speed (in Mbps) | Upload Speed (in Mbps) | Average Latency (in ms) Round-Trip |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3G | .4 to 1.4 | .35 to .5 | 100 to 450 |
| 4G | 2 to 6 | .5 to 1.8 | 60 to 180 |
| 4G LTE | 6 to 40 | 2 to 20 | 35 to 90 |
These speeds and latency estimates are derived from our underlying carriers, and are available here. (Note: our underlying carriers may update their speed and latency estimates at any time. If they do, our underlying carriers’ posted estimates control.) TruConnect may advertise speeds and latency up to maximum speeds expected to be achieved through the device over our underlying carriers’ networks. Several factors—including capacity constraints, network availability, environmental conditions, your device, whether you are tethering from a separate device, or the network management practices of our underlying carriers—may impact the actual speed and latency that you experience at any given time.
Traffic Information. We may monitor traffic for our own internal purposes, including, but not limited to, billing, internal metrics, and preventing fraud, abuse, and illegal activity on our network, as permitted by law. We do not monitor traffic information through deep-packet inspection. We do not share any traffic information with unaffiliated third parties for non-network management purposes without your consent.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, TruConnect reserves the right to use analytics that do not personally identify any individual end user and share such analytics with third parties in accordance with TruConnect’s Privacy Policy, available here.
Commercial Terms. TruConnect has a variety of service plans to meet your individual needs and budget. We are continually working to develop our services to meet your internet access demands now and in the future. When we offer new online services, we will provide the characteristics, capabilities and terms of such new service offerings to allow you to make knowledgeable choices about which services make the most sense for you. TruConnect will continue to provide you with accurate and relevant information in plain language so you can make informed choices. Information regarding our service plans, including pricing and top up options, can be found here.
Redress. Questions and concerns regarding TruConnect Internet service may be addressed to us using the contact outlined in our Terms of Use, available here.
Last updated: May 3rd, 2021.