Acceptable Use Policy

Acceptable Use Policy for Hilltop Broadband Internet Service


The Goal of Hilltop Broadband Internet is to provide the best possible internet experience to all its customers. Hilltop Broadband has adopted this policy in the furtherance of that goal.

All Hilltop Broadband Internet customers and all others who use the service (the "user", "users", "customer", "customers" "you" or "your") must comply with this Policy. Your failure to comply with the terms outlined in this Policy may result in the suspension or cancellation of the Service Agreement. If you do not agree with the terms of this Policy, immediately stop the use of any and all Hilltop Broadband services and notify Hilltop Broadband so that it can close your account. Use of any Hilltop Broadband services constitutes an agreement to abide by the Policy.

Unlawful activity
 
Generally Hilltop Broadband prohibits any activities that are illegal, fraudulent, infringes on the rights of any person or entity, or interferes with the use and enjoyment of the Service by others. This includes but is not limited to the examples listed below:

Use of the service to:

  • Transmit, receive, store, post, or otherwise disseminate any defamatory, obscene, libelous, unlawful, or threating data, information, or material.
  • In any way disseminate any material, data, or information that any reasonable person could deem as unlawful, or could constitute a criminal offense, or in any way violates any local, state, or federal law.
  • Infringe in any manner the copyright or proprietary rights of any rights holders.
  • Download or in any way distribute any copyrighted material without the express permission of the copyright holder.
  • Engage in unsolicited bulk or commercial email messages ("spam").
  • Perform any activity that disrupts the servers, services, or network of Hilltop Broadband or any other entity, commonly referred to as a denial of service attacks.
  • Restrict, inhibit, or otherwise diminish with the ability of any person or entity, regardless of intent, purpose or knowledge, to use or enjoy the Service (with the exception of tools designed for safety, such as firewall or parental control software).
  • Falsify, alter, or remove message headers or packet headers or in any way alter normal network operations.
  • Impersonate any person or entity by name or other identifier in messages, engage in sender address falsification, forge anyone else's digital or manual signature, or perform any other similar fraudulent activity, commonly referred to as "phishing".
  • Violate the terms of service, acceptable use, rules, regulations, or policies of any service, network, system, server, or application you access or use.
  • Access any entities computer, network, data, or software without the consent of the owner; bypass or attempt to breach any security measures of any computer, network, service, or account. This includes but is not limited to using another entities credentials to which you are not authorized, accessing data not intended for you, and any unauthorized port scanning.
  • Obtain, distribute, or use any tools or devices designed or commonly used for compromising the security of computers, networks, or software. This includes but is not limited to password generators, decoders, packet sniffers, keystroke loggers, cracking tools, and Trojan Horse programs.
  • Perform any service, alterations, or modifications with the Hilltop Broadband equipment or Service or permit any other person to do such who is not authorized by Hilltop Broadband.
  • Redistribute or resell the service or otherwise make the service available to anyone outside the premises. This includes wired and wireless networking technologies.
  • Use the service as an Internet service provider, whether or not for profit.

Hosting and Servers on Residential accounts
Residential accounts are provided for the use of internet services on computers and networked devices at the premises where the internet service is installed.
The Residential service cannot be used to:

  • Use dedicated, stand-alone equipment or servers from the Premises the provide content or services to anyone outside of the Premises.
  • Use programs from the Premises that provide content or services to anyone outside of your premises.
  • Use of encryption technologies to mask the presence of servers or server software.
  • Use of the service for any business enterprise or purpose, whether or not for profit.

Responsibility for equipment
The customer's premise equipment, hereafter referred to as CPE (sometimes referred to as a modem) is provided by Hilltop Broadband for use by the customer for the purposes of enjoying the Service. A fee may be charged each month that the account is active for the rental of the CPE. The CPE remains the property of Hilltop Broadband internet. Hilltop Broadband will replace the CPE in the event that it is defective in the normal use of the internet service. Improper use or handling of the CPE, or in the event that the CPE is lost or stolen additional charges for replacement including but not limited to equipment costs and labor costs will be the responsibility of the customer.

Access to the configuration interfaces, including web based and command-line configuration is prohibited except when performed by a Hilltop Broadband agent or employee. Any other entity that accesses the configuration of the CPE may require that the CPE be provisioned by a Hilltop Broadband employee at the customer's expense.

Support Policy

System Maintenance and Repair Policy:

System maintenance will be performed as to minimize disruption to customer services.  In most cases system maintenance will be performed between 11pm and 4am.  Exceptions to this are emergency maintenance, safety concerns or other special circumstances as determined by a system engineer.

Infrastructure Repair – immediate system repair and restoration will be performed on all infrastructure outages where 5 or greater customers are affected by the outage.

Residential support:

Standard support hours are Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm.  Support requests outside these hours will be addressed the next business day.

Support requests requiring the dispatch of a technician will in most cases be given the next available technician time slot.  If a time slot is not available that day the request will be prioritized for the next business day.

Limited email support is provided on weekends and holidays.  Generally email support will be within a 4 hour response time.

Business support for business service level accounts:

Standard business support hours are Monday through Friday 9am to 5pm.  Extended business support hours are 7am to 9am and 5pm to 9pm.  Weekends are considered extended support hours.

During standard support hours, the response time will normally be within 2 hours and the repair time will normally be within 4 hours.

During extended support hours the response time will normally be within 2 hours and the repair time will be within 8 hours.

Customers are advised to check electrical power and equipment before requesting the dispatch of a technician.  If a technician is dispatched and the problem is found to be on the customer side of the demarcation, the customer will be charged applicable service call fees.

Billing Policy

Hilltop Broadband Billing Policy


The Goal of Hilltop Broadband Internet is to provide the best possible internet and customer service experience to all its customers. Hilltop Broadband has adopted this billing policy in the furtherance of that goal. By using Hilltop Broadband's service you are accepting this policy as part of Hilltop's Terms of Service.


Payment
● By providing bank account or credit card information to Hilltop Broadband, you are authorizing Hilltop Broadband to charge your account for service related charges as necessary to maintain your account in a current status.
● Bad Check or ACH return fees: If Hilltop Broadband incurs any fees as a result of bad checks or ACH returns, Hilltop Broadband has the right to charge to fees to the customer including an administrative fee not to exceed the value of the bad check or ACH return fee.
● Checks must be from a local or in-state bank
● Checks will not be accepted that are starter checks, unnumbered checks, or non personalized checks.


Billing Cycle
● Unless otherwise agreed upon during account setup, the billing date for accounts will be the activation date of the account. Accounts will bill on a monthly recurring basis on this same day of the month.
● Payment is due for services 20 days after the billing date of the account.
● The account will be considered past due and subject to disconnect if payment is not received 30 calendar days after the billing date.
● Hilltop Broadband reserves the right to charge a late fee of up to $20 for payments not received within 30 days of the billing date.


Calculation of Charges
● Hilltop Broadband services are paid for in advance of the service period. For example, if a customer’s billing day
is the 2nd of the month, a bill received on May 2nd is for service between May 2nd and June 1st.
● Charges will be pro-rated for monthly services when switching between active service plans. The maximum prorated changes per billing cycle is 2.
● When switching to a non-active or “Away” billing plan, a pro-rated discount for the plan rate difference between the active and non-active plan rates will be given only during the first 7 days of the billing date.
● When switching to an active plan from a non-active plan, the pro-rated charge for the remaining days in the billing cycle will be assessed.
● Customers using a non-active or “Away” plan rate are required to have 6 months of service with an active plan such as Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum.
● The 6 month minimum requirement will be reviewed twice annually. Customers not meeting the 6 month minimum will be notified and placed on an active service plan to meet this minimum.
Service or Repair Calls for Non-active Accounts.
● Customers that use non-active plans will be assessed a service call fee for any repairs or equipment upgrades.
● Customers using non-active plans should be aware that service may not work correctly after extended periods of being disconnected or powered down.  When a customer anticipates returning to an active plan, Hilltop may not be able to dispatch a technician for immediate repairs. Hilltop’s standard service policy is to respond to requests for repairs within 24 hours Monday through Friday.
● In all cases repairs will be subject to availability of repair staff and receipt of required payment for repairs.

Cancellation

● All services are subject to a 30 day advance notice cancellation policy.  An exception to this is customers in their first 30 day "money back guarantee" period.

● Credits and refunds for services that are cancelled will only be allowed or offered during the first 7 days of the billing cycle.  These credits will be offered on a pro-rated basis and subject to the discretion and approval of management.

● Credits or refunds may be subject to a processing fee or transaction fee.

● After the first 7 days of a billing cycle credits or refunds will not be offered or allowed.

Terms of Use

Conditions and Terms of Use for Internet Service


The Goal of Hilltop Broadband Internet is to provide the best possible internet experience to all its customers. Hilltop Broadband has adopted this policy in the furtherance of that goal.

All Hilltop Broadband Internet customers and all others who use the service (the "user", "users", "customer", "customers" "you" or "your") must comply with this Policy. Your failure to comply with the terms outlined in this Policy may result in the suspension or cancellation of the Service Agreement. If you do not agree with the terms of this Policy, immediately stop the use of any and all Hilltop Broadband services and notify Hilltop Broadband so that it can close your account. Use of any Hilltop Broadband services constitutes an agreement to abide by the Policy.

The customer agrees that:

  • The Customer shall use the service for Internet access for computers located within the installed premise of service only. Wireless networks are only allowed if set up by a Hilltop Broadband technician to provide the necessary security to its network. Customer shall not lease or sublease or provide Internet access to others through the use of the service or otherwise without the express consent of Hilltop Broadband Internet.
  • THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT CUSTOMER'S SOLE RISK. NEITHER HILLTOP BROADBAND NOR ANY LICENCORS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; NOR DOES HILLTOP BROADBAND, THEIR AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USE OF THE SERVICE. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. SPECIFICALLY, THERE IS NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE FOR THE SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED HERE UNDER. HILLTOP BROADBAND, ITS EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, SUBCONTRACTORS AND ASSIGNS SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR LOST, STOLEN, OR DAMAGED EQUIPMENT, WITHOUT LIMITATION, Hilltop Broadband SHALL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR LOSS OF ANY SOFTWARE, HARDWARE OR DATA, IN WHATEVER FORM STORED ON ANY COMPUTER EQUIPMENT ONTO WHICH A WIRELESS MODEM AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT IS INSTALLED. IT IS CUSTOMERS RESPONSIBILITY TO BACK UP ANY AND ALL DATA, AND SOFTWARE PRIOR TO THE INSTALLATION OF THE WIRELESS MODEM AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT.
  • Hilltop Broadband provides service to the dermarcation (demarc) point, normally the "LAN" port of the receiver power supply.  Equipment on the customer side of this demarc will be maintained by the customer at the cost of the customer.  Hilltop Broadband will not be responsible for any repairs maintenance or damage to facilities on the customer side of the demarc.
  • For custom or complex installations including but not limited to: runs through conduit, direct burial, installation in trees, closed cavity walls, aerial cable, the service demarc shall be the LAN port of the wireless receiver.  All equipment, cable, power supplies, etc. shall be maintained by the customer at the customer's expense.  Hilltop Broadband will not be responsible for any repairs, maintenance or damage to facilities on the customer side of this demarc point.
  • Hilltop Broadband services are provided as a "Best Effort" except custom bandwidth solutions with a SLA. This means there are no guarantees of the speed you will receive. We strive to always provide the download rate you are subscribed to. Unforeseen circumstances such as outages and interference can disrupt your signal and prevent us from providing your purchased speed. We monitor our systems to limit the effects of these issues but they cannot be prevented in all cases.
  • Hilltop Broadband shall have the right to inspect, modify or remove installed equipment during reasonable hours provided reasonable notice is given to customer.  Customers refusing Hilltop Broadband access to their property may have service disconnected or suspended at the sole discretion of Hilltop Broadband.  Reasonable hours shall be 8am to 8pm 7 days per week.  Reasonable notice shall be 1 hour notice for work on outdoor equipment and 24 hours notice for work on indoor equipment.
  • The Customer may be subject to additional charges, at Hilltop Broadband sole discretion, including, but not limited to bad check charges, non-pay reconnect fees, and early disconnect fees.
  • Hilltop Broadband shall not be liable to Customer for any damages arising from any event that is out of the control of Hilltop Broadband. Neither shall Hilltop Broadband be liable for indirect, special, incidental, exemplary, consequential, or any other form of money damages, including but not limited to, lost profits, or for the loss of data or information of any kind, however caused and arising out of or in connection with the performance of Hilltop Broadband or the provision of services or performance here under, whether based in contract, tort, or any other legal theory, and whether or not Hilltop Broadband has been made aware of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall liability exceed a refund of amounts actually paid by Customer for the then current month.
  • The bandwidth provided by Hilltop Broadband is a shared service. Any quoted bandwidth rating/transfer rate for High Speed Internet Service is a maximum rate and not guaranteed based upon the shared service. Hilltop Broadband reserves the right to manage its Networks to provide for maximum efficiency. Due to the demands of the Internet, the limitations of other networks that comprise the Internet and Customers equipment limitations, the maximum speeds may be available but only on a burst basis.
  • The acceptable use policy is outlined on Hilltop Broadband’s Website.  All customers must read and agree to the terms set forth in the Acceptable Use Policy as well as this Policy.
  • The customer is 18 years of age or older.
  • The Customer indemnifies and will hold harmless Hilltop Broadband Internet and its successors and assigns, from any and all copyright, trademark, patent or any other legal liability arising out of the use of this service.
  • Breach of this Agreement by Customer may result in immediate termination of services in addition to liability for any and all damages, including attorney fees and costs.
  • The Customer is solely responsible for limiting access to objectionable materials that may be on the Internet. Hilltop Broadband takes no responsibility or liability for unauthorized viewing of said materials by minors or any other persons.
  • This agreement is and shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Colorado applicable to agreements made and performed in Colorado.  Any cause of action of a Customer or its designated user with respect to the Service must be instituted within one year after the claim or cause of action has arisen or be barred.
  • Any Hilltop Broadband Internet Service purchased by a non-commercial entity is provided to the Customer for their private non-commercial use.
  • The services purchased from Hilltop Broadband are for use only by the party purchasing service, only at the service address and shall not be resold to any third party.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy for Hilltop Broadband

Effective Date: April, 2014
Last Updated: May, 2024

Hilltop Broadband ("we," "us," or "our") values your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information we obtain from you in connection with our internet services. By using our services, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

Information We Collect

1. Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI)

CPNI includes information related to the type, quantity, and destination of telecommunications services you use with Hilltop Broadband. We collect and safeguard this information as required by law.

2. Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

We collect PII, such as your name, address, email address, phone number, payment details, and service preferences, when you sign up for our services, communicate with us, or use our website.

3. Network and Usage Information

We collect data about your use of our network, including IP addresses, device types, and bandwidth consumption, to provide and optimize our services.

4. Payment Card Information

We comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) to protect your credit card and payment details during transactions.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide, improve, and personalize our services.
  • Process payments and maintain account records.
  • Respond to your inquiries and provide customer support.
  • Comply with legal and regulatory obligations, including those related to CPNI and PCI DSS.
  • Prevent fraud, unauthorized access, and other illegal activities.
  • Communicate with you about account updates, promotions, and new services (with your consent, where applicable).

Sharing Your Information

We do not sell or rent your personal information. We may share your information in the following circumstances:

  • With service providers: We may share information with third-party vendors and partners who assist us in delivering our services. These parties are required to protect your information and use it solely for the purposes we specify.
  • To comply with legal requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, regulation, court order, or subpoena.
  • To protect our rights and security: We may share information to detect and prevent fraud or unauthorized access to our network.
  • With your consent: We may share information with your explicit permission.

Your Privacy Rights

1. Access and Control

You can review and update your account information by logging into your account or contacting our customer service team.

2. Opt-Out Options

  • You may opt out of receiving promotional communications by following the instructions in those communications or contacting us directly.
  • If you wish to restrict the use of your CPNI, you may contact us at any time.

Security Measures

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect your information, including:

  • Encryption of sensitive data during transmission.
  • Secure storage of payment information in compliance with PCI DSS standards.
  • Access controls to limit who can access your information.
  • Regular audits and monitoring to maintain security standards.

Retention of Information

We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy or as required by law. When no longer needed, we securely dispose of or anonymize your information.

Children’s Privacy

Our services are not intended for individuals under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child, we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If changes are significant, we will notify you via email or through our website. The updated policy will be effective upon posting unless otherwise noted.

Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us.

Your privacy is important to us. Thank you for trusting Hilltop Broadband.