Network Management Practices Policy

Pursuant to the Federal Communications Commission's newly enacted Open Internet Rules found in Part 8 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service, Inc. (Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service) regarding network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms are provided in entirety so that current customers, prospective customers, third-party content providers and other interested parties can make informed choices regarding the broadband Internet access services offered by Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service, and the extent Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's network management practices may affect those services.

Network Management Practices

In the interest of providing the best online experience possible for all of Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's customers, Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service utilizes reasonable network management practices tailored to achieve legitimate network management purposes. Because bandwidth is a limited resource for broadband Internet service providers, it is essential that Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service reasonably manages its network to promote the use and enjoyment of the Internet by all of Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's customers. By engaging in reasonable and responsible network management, Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service prevents its customers from being subjected to the negative effects of spam, viruses, security attacks, network congestion, and other risks that threaten to degrade service. The network management practices employed by Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service are consistent with industry standards.

Congestion Management

Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service does not employ any automatic congestion management tools or software on network traffic.

It is possible that a relatively small number of customers may place a disproportionate demand on the network bandwidth resources, causing network congestion and an overall degradation in service quality for other end users. In our experience, this is typically due to malware or other computer infection issues affecting the high-demand user, not legitimate network use. If this occurs, Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service may take steps to temporarily suspend some levels of network access to the unusually high-demand users, and contact them about a possible solution, so as not to disrupt network traffic for the majority of the system's users.

Application-Specific Behavior

Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service utilizes the following application-specific network management practices:

Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service blocks all traffic to and from a short list of internet ports, long known to be used nearly exclusively to replicate viruses, network attacks, and for other non-legitimate network traffic. Those ports are:

• TCP and UPD port 53
• TCP and UDP port 55
• TCP and UDP port 77
• TCP ports 135 through 139
• TCP port 445
• UDP port 135
• TCP port 4444
• TCP and UDP ports 1433 and 1434

Device Attachment Rules

In order for a device to be approved for use on the Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's network, the device must conform to publicly available industry standards and be non-harmful to Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's network.

Security

Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service offers its customers unrestricted access to all of the lawful content, services, and applications available on the Internet. Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service uses industry standard tools and generally accepted best practices and policies to protect our customers from spam, phishing, and other unwanted or harmful online content and activities. In the instances where these tools and policies identify online content as harmful or unwanted, the content may be prevented from reaching customers, or customers may be permitted to identify or inspect content to determine if it is harmful or unwanted. As Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service becomes aware of harmful or infected client connections on our network, we may temporarily suspend Internet access to that client and contact them to work to resolve the problem, so as to maintain access for the remaining Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service clients.

Performance Characteristics

Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service offers broadband Internet access service via Digital Subscriber Line ("DSL") and Fiber-to-the-Home ("FTTH") technology. DSL is a wireline transmission technology that transmits data faster over traditional copper telephone lines already installed to homes and businesses. FTTH utilizes fiber optic cable to deliver telephone, data and video services. With the capacity for an indefinite amount of data, FTTH technology allows subscribers to receive better quality voice, data and video services in their homes. The technology utilized to provide broadband Internet access service to an individual customer will be dependent upon the customer's address as the Provider does not offer all technologies to all locations in the network. Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's FTTH offering is available in certain service areas.

The advertised speed of Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Internet service is the maximum speed achievable with the technology utilized by Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service. While the maximum advertised speed is attainable for end users, several factors may affect the actual speed of Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Internet service offerings, including, but not limited to: the distance of the consumer's home or office from Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's central office (i.e., the further away the customer is from the central office, the slower the broadband speed), the end user's computer, modem or router, activity during peak usage periods, and other Internet traffic.

Based on internal testing [include Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service-specific tests conducted], the mean upload and download speeds for all levels of service do not deviate greater than 10% greater or less than the contracted throughput rates, including during peak usage periods (i.e., between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on weeknights). Latency on our network falls within industry standards.

The speeds achieved with Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Internet service offering make Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Internet service suitable for real-time applications, such as Voice over Internet Protocol ("VoIP"). Any additional specialized services offered by Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service, such as IPTV, have no affect on the data transfer characteristics of Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Internet service, even if the specialized services may share some of the same physical network as the Internet service.

Commercial Terms

Pricing

In order to meet the usage and budgetary needs of all of our customers, Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service offers a wide selection of broadband Internet access plan options, including promotional offerings, bundled service choices, and ala carte alternatives. For current pricing options, visit www.piercetelephone.com.

Usage-Based Fees

Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Internet service is priced on a flat-fee basis (plus taxes). Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service does not charge end users a usage-based fee for Internet service.

Privacy Policy

The various network management tools and techniques utilized by Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service do not monitor, inspect or store the network activity and traffic of its Internet service users. Further, as part of its network management practices, Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service does not distribute information on network activity and/or traffic to any third party, or use network traffic information for any non-network management purpose.

Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service affords full access to all lawful content, services and applications available on the Internet and does not routinely monitor, inspect or store the network activity and traffic of its Internet service users. However, Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service reserves the right to monitor bandwidth, usage, transmissions and content for purposes of protecting the integrity of the network and Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Internet access service through reasonable network management practices, or as directed by law enforcement or court order.

Network traffic, activity, performance information, and equipment information monitored or collected by Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service is done so for the sole purpose of reasonable network management purposes.

Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service is required to comply with relevant laws, regulations and governmental requests. Information covered under this Privacy Policy, as well as other categories of information, may be disclosed to third parties if Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service determines, in its sole discretion, that such a disclosure is necessary or required. Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service may also disclose this information if, in its sole discretion, such a disclosure is necessary or required to protect our interests or the interests of our customers. Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service may also disclose this information in connection with the sale of our business.

Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's network management practices as discussed herein are intended solely to provide the best online experience possible for all of Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's customers by safeguarding our network and its users from spam, viruses, phishing, and other unwanted or harmful online content and activities. Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's network management practices are not intended, nor implemented, to block consumers from accessing the content and applications of their choice, deprive consumers of their entitlement to competition, or discriminate against or in favor of certain network traffic. End users with questions, concerns or complaints regarding Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's network management practices are encouraged to contact Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service for issue resolution.

Contact Us

If you have any questions regarding Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Network Management Practices Policy or would like to file a complaint with us regarding our network management practices, please contact Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service at:

Pierce Telephone Company
Attn: General Manager
112 S 5th Street, PO Box 113
Pierce , NE 68767
Phone: 402-329-6225
Fax: 402-329-4006
www.piercetelephone.com

Further, if you believe that Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service is in violation of the FCC's Open Internet Rules, you may file either an informal or formal complaint with the FCC.
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

Additional Disclaimers

The Open Internet Rules, as adopted, and Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Network Management Practices Policy are not intended to affect, alter or otherwise supersede the legal status of cooperative efforts by broadband Internet access service providers and other service providers that are designed to curtail infringement in response to information provided by rights holders in a manner that is timely, effective, and accommodates the legitimate interests of Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's, rights holders, and end users.

Furthermore, the Open Internet Rules, as adopted, and Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Network Management Practices Policy do not prohibit Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service from making reasonable efforts to address the transfer of unlawful content or unlawful transfers of content.

For additional information, please review Pierce Telephone Company Internet Service's Acceptable Internet Use Policy/Subscriber Agreement at: www.piercetelephone.com.