Internet Policies and Disclosures
Bark Mobile (“BARK MOBILE,” “we,” or “our”) is committed to providing all its customers (also “you” or “your”) with the best online experience possible. To help you better understand how we provide our services, as well as important conditions and limitations of the services, we summarize here our policies and disclosures. Details and other terms and conditions will be found in your service agreement, our service plan offerings, and other pages on our website, some of which are linked below.
Service Description and Prices
We provide broadband Internet access services using a variety of wireless technologies, offering mobile and fixed wireless at 3G and 4G speeds. The technologies, prices, and speeds that we offer to your wireless services depend on the plan you select, your location when you are using the service, and certain limitations disclosed in this policy summary. To learn the details of our plans, click here. Note that some plans include early termination fees and usage charges. All of our plans and services are provided subject to and in accordance with our Terms and Conditions, as amended from time-to-time and which can be found here. When discussed on our website, in our plans, or in other documents, the speed of the BARK MOBILE data network is measured in kilobits (kb) per second. However, the amount of data transmitted over the BARK MOBILE data network is measured in kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB).
Expected Performance Characteristics
BARK MOBILE’s mobile broadband 3G users can expect typical data speeds of 400-600 Kbps for uploads, and 600 Kbps – 1.2 Mbps for downloads. BARK MOBILE’s mobile broadband 4G users can expect typical data speeds of 5-12 Mbps for uploads, and 1-4 Mbps downloads. Mobile broadband devices can experience peak speeds of up to 3.1 Mbps for the download and 1.8 Mbps for the upload. Actual speeds may vary due to area, coverage, and compression. BARK MOBILE uses commercially available software to measure its network performance on a daily basis. Customers can verify speed using a variety of third-party websites, such as SPEEDTEST, to measure the provisional speeds of BARK MOBILE’s broadband service. Such third-party websites are not affiliated with BARK MOBILE and the company does not make any guarantees as to the accuracy of test results obtained through those third-parties. Broadband connections (2G and up) are suitable for real-time applications such as VoIP, and web surfing; and higher speed plans (3G and 4G) are suitable for movies, gaming, and music. Occasionally, at times of peak usage, some applications may run more slowly than usual, especially on wireless technologies.
Approximate Data Usage Examples
Basic information and examples showing the approximate data usage for several common Internet activities appear below.
Note: The above examples are just estimates, based on approximate size assumptions. Actual file sizes and user experiences will vary.
Acceptable Uses
BARK MOBILE generally permits the use of its broadband services for all lawful purposes that are not harmful to our network or other customers, including browsing the Internet via BARK MOBILE phones or devices, such as residential routers, using email, downloading legally permissible content via the Internet, accessing and using corporate email and/or corporate business applications associated with its customers’ places of employment. BARK MOBILE does not block users from accessing lawful websites, nor do we block applications that compete with our voice or video telephony services. We do employ reasonable network management practices and enforce our Terms and Conditions and Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”). The AUP can be found here. Network management policies are discussed in more detail below.
Network Management Practices
Like all Internet service providers, BARK MOBILE needs to manage its network in order to ensure the best possible broadband Internet experience for all of its customers. BARK MOBILE uses reasonable network management practices consistent with any applicable industry standards and FCC rules. These practices are needed to maintain the reliability of BARK MOBILE's network, to minimize network issues, and to ensure compliance with its AUP. BARK MOBILE reserves the right to limit throughput and to suspend/terminate service, without notice, if the service is used in a prohibited manner or if usage adversely impacts or potentially impacts our network or service levels. Also, customers with extremely high data usage levels may have their data throughput reduced as needed to mitigate network congestion on the home network. For example, BARK MOBILE may decrease data throughput on customers who exceed 12GB on BARK MOBILE's home network during a billing period or in event that a particular activity is negatively impacting the network’s performance, BARK MOBILE may decrease data throughput by protocol. Further, during periods network congestion we reserve the right to prioritize traffic, for example based on real time and non-real time applications, to ensure that all applications receive a priority consistent with their nature, purposes, and functions to the extent practical. When our network experiences high demand, data speeds for users may be slower for all applications until traffic levels return to normal, particularly on our wireless networks.
Device Restrictions
All phones and devices connecting customers to carrier’s network must be compatible with BARK MOBILE’s network due to network parameters in the device. More information about the specific devices approved for use on BARK MOBILE’s network can be obtained by contacting our Customer Service Department. Other devices are permitted if customers are roaming on BARK MOBILE's network. BARK MOBILE is not liable for the performance of any equipment on its network or any claims arising from the use of the equipment.
Excessive Roaming
BARK MOBILE may terminate service for excessive use of non-BARK MOBILE networks, defined as more than 40% of your total usage, e.g. minutes, data, messages, etc., over a rolling 60-day period.
Privacy and Security
We commit to reasonably protect our customers privacy, as detailed in our Privacy Policy, which can be found here. BARK MOBILE generally offers its wireless broadband customers unrestricted access to all of the lawful content, services, and applications available on the Internet. However, usage is subject to limitations of service plans, our AUP, network management, and BARK MOBILE Terms and Conditions. We reserve the right to monitor bandwidth, usage, transmissions and content for purposes of protecting the integrity and availability of our network and to employ reasonable network management practices. However, customers are responsible for protecting their own equipment connected to the BARK MOBILE network. Customers are responsible for installing and using third-party solutions for protection from spam and other unwanted or harmful Internet content. BARK MOBILE does maintain a firewall to protect its own network. The operation of the firewall may result in large files being blocked or compressed.
Contact Information for Questions or Concerns
We find that most customer concerns or disputes can be resolved through our customer service representatives. However, any customer disputes that cannot be resolved without third-party intervention will be resolved by binding arbitration in accordance with our Terms and Conditions. If you have any questions regarding these policies and disclosures or would like to file an informal complaint you may contact our Customer Service Department through the company’s website, or by calling 1-800-235-5007.
January 18, 2019