Service Level Agreement
 

Digicon is committed to providing a reliable, high-quality network to support its high-speed Private Network and Internet access service. Digicon's Service Level Agreement ("SLA") is provided at no additional cost or expense to customers who:

1. Agree to a minimum of a one-year term, and (ii) sign a Service Order Form, which provides that Digicon order the local loop (“Eligible Customers”). As part of this commitment, Digicon is pleased to offer Eligible Customers the following guarantees:

• 99.9% Network Availability

• 65 ms Maximum Network Latency

• 45 Business Day Maximum Installation Guarantee

• Proactive Outage and Network Maintenance Notification

• Next Business Day Managed Router Replacement

In the event Digicon fails to meet the terms and conditions of the guarantees listed above, it may provide Eligible Customers with certain Service Credit(s) as more specifically set forth herein.

Definitions

2. Customer - shall mean any customer meeting the requirement set forth above, with a binding contract with Digicon for dedicated Internet access, excluding any customer who:

• Is blocking Digicon from monitoring the customer's premises router.

• Fails to provide the necessary access to personnel and/or facilities at the customer's premises to enable Digicon to perform comprehensive troubleshooting.

• Is not in good financial standing with Digicon.

3. Force Majeure - shall mean acts beyond the reasonable control of Digicon, including, but not limited to, acts of God, fire, explosion, vandalism, natural disasters, storm or other similar occurrence, any law, order, regulation, direction, action or request of the United States Government or state or local governments, or of any department, agency, commission, court, bureau, corporation or other instrumentality of any one or more said governments, or of any civil or military authority, national emergencies, insurrections, riots, wars, strikes, lock-outs or work stoppages, or other labor difficulties, supplier failures, shortages, breaches or delays.

4. Network - shall mean the telecommunications/data communications network and network components owned, operated and/or controlled by Digicon, including Points of Presence (POPs). The Digicon Network does not include any networks or network equipment not owned, operated or controlled by Digicon or any network components provided by third-party vendors/integrators.

5. Network Unavailability - shall mean a failure of the Digicon Network resulting in a Customer being unable to connect to the Digicon Network from the Customer's location. Network Unavailability shall not mean and does not include failure as a result of:

• Digicon Network planned maintenance

• Other planned outages

• Packet loss

• Problems with or maintenance occurring on the Customer's applications, equipment or facilities

• Acts or omissions of the Customer or authorized user

• An external Internet Service Provider or an Internet exchange point

• Force Majeure

6. Service Credit - shall mean:

• One (1) day Service Credit: 1/30th of the Customer's monthly service charges

• One (1) week Service Credit: 7/30th of the Customer's monthly service charges

• One (1) month Service Credit: Full amount of the Customer's monthly service charges

Guarantees:

1. Digicon guarantees 99.9% Network Availability, as measured below. Any Customer who experiences Network Unavailability in excess of one (1) hour during a calendar month may receive a Service Credit as follows:

• Network Unavailability greater than one (1) hour, but less than four (4) hours, in a calendar month: one (1) day Service Credit.

• Network Unavailability equal to or greater than four (4) hours, in a calendar month: one (1) day credit per additional hour that the Digicon network is unavailable, with a maximum of thirty (30) days credit for outages exceeding thirty (30) hours.

• Scheduled Maintenance is excluded as outlined in section “E. Proactive Outage Notification” of this SLA.

Example: A Customer experiencing Network Unavailability of six (6) hours in a calendar month may receive three (3) days Service Credit upon receipt of proper notification as outlined in the “Service Credit Claim Process” Section of this SLA, and, upon approval by the Digicon Management.

2. Digicon guarantees a maximum average monthly transmission rate of 65 milliseconds on the Digicon Network. Digicon measures Network latency as the average round trip transmission on the Digicon Network. This is checked at approximately 60-minute intervals with the average calculated at the end of each calendar month. The results are posted on the Digicon SLA website and can be found at Digicon Service Level Agreement. Should Digicon’s Network latency exceed 65 ms in each of two (2) consecutive months all SLA eligible customers may request a one (1) day service credit as outlined in the “Service Credit Claim Process” section of this SLA.

3. Digicon guarantees to install all Digicon-ordered telephone company circuits and have all Internet ports actively able to pass traffic within 45 business days. These days shall be counted from the date Digicon has received all required Customer paperwork that may include but not be limited to: a signed Service Order Form (acknowledging review of Digicon’s Terms and Conditions, Service Level Agreements, and Acceptable Use Policy), a signed price quotation or authorized purchase order (if applicable), and a completed Customer Information Form (including the credit information). The Circuit Install Guarantee is not available for Customer-ordered telephone company circuits or if the installation delay is attributable to any or all of the following: the Customer’s equipment, the Customer's facility, acts or omissions of the Customer, its employees or agents, the Customer inability to pass Digicon’s credit check, or reasons of Force Majeure.
   Upon receipt of the customer’s notification, as outlined in the “Service Credit Claim Process” Section of this SLA, that Digicon has failed to meet this Circuit Installation Guarantee, the Customer’s account shall be credited fifty (50%) percent of Digicon’s listed Non-Recurring Charge (as set forth on the signed Service Order Form) for the service with respect to which this guarantee has not been met regardless of whether or not the installation fee was paid.

4. Digicon guarantees to notify a Customer within thirty (30) minutes after Digicon's determination that the Customer's service is unavailable. Digicon's standard procedure is to ping the Customer's router every five minutes. If Customer's router does not respond after three (3) consecutive five-minute ping cycles, for the purpose of notification, Digicon will deem the service unavailable and will contact Customer's designated point of contact(s) by a method elected by Digicon (telephone, email, fax or pager) taking into account the day, date and time of the incident, along with the Customer’s preferred method of contact as listed on the current Customer Information Form on file. The Customer is solely responsible for providing Digicon accurate and current contact information for the Customer's designated points of contact. Digicon will be relieved of its obligations under this Notification Guarantee if the contact information for the Customer is out of date or inaccurate due to the Customer's action or omission, or if Digicon's failure is due to reasons of Force Majeure.

5. Digicon guarantees forty-eighty (48) hours prior notification to all customers whose service may be adversely affected by any scheduled maintenance to the Digicon Network. Notification will be provided to the Customer’s contact(s) by a method elected by Digicon (telephone, email, fax or pager) taking into account the day, date and expected time of the incident, along with the Customer’s preferred method of contact as listed on the current Customer Information Form on file. Digicon’s routine maintenance is performed daily from 3 AM to 6 AM local time of the affected network component. Digicon will be relieved of its obligation under this Notification Guarantee if the contact information for the Customer is out of date or inaccurate due to the Customer’s action or mission, or if Digicon’s failure is due to Force Majeure.
   In the event that Digicon fails to meet the Notification Guarantee, and upon receipt of the Customer’s notification as outlined in the “Service Credit Claim Process” Section of this SLA, the Customer's account shall be credited with a one day Service Credit with respect to which this Guarantee has not been met; with the exception that a Customer may obtain no more than one Service Credit per day, irrespective of how often in that day Digicon fails to meet the Notification Guarantee.

6. If customer has a Digicon provided and managed router, that fails, then Digicon will deliver to the Customer a replacement router on the next business day, provided the router failure is determined by Digicon Technical Support prior to 7:30 PM EST. Once the Customer receives the replacement router, the Customer's is responsible and obligated to ship back the defective router, within forty-eight (48) hours, to Digicon's headquarters located at 510 Spring Street, Suite 250, Herndon, VA 20170, or the Customer will be charged the cost to replace such equipment.
   In the event that Digicon fails to meet the Router Replacement Guarantee, and upon of the Customer’s notification as outlined in “Section 4.Service Credit Claim Process” of this SLA, the Customer’s account shall be credited with a one day Service Credit for each day the Replacement Guarantee has not been met; with the exception that a customer may obtain no more than a maximum thirty (30) day service credit per calendar month.

Service Credit Claim Process

1. In order to initiate a claim for Service Credit, the Customer must provide a written request from a listed contact on the current Customer Information Form on file, to include:

• The customer name and contact information (must include current email address)

• Digicon’s trouble ticket number (if applicable)

• The date, the beginning and end time of the failed metric

• A brief description of the characteristics of the claimed failed metric

• A formal request for the potentially applicable credits

To Digicon's Customer Care Group via fax (703.621.2101), e-mail (customer.care@digicon.com), mail or courier at 510 Spring Street, Suite 250, Herndon, VA 20170, within ten (10) business days of the occurrence of the event for which credit is being requested, with respect to the guarantees in question.

2. Upon resolution of the request(s) the Customer will be notified via e-mail. If credit request is rejected, the notification will specify Digicon's basis for rejection. If approved, Digicon will issue Service Credit to Customer's account at the end of Customer's term as specified in the Service Order Form, the commencement of any renewal and/or extension of the term will be advanced by the total Service Credits granted, or an amount not to exceed thirty (30) days of Service Credit for monthly service charges may be provided during any single month.

3. The Service Credit(s) provided for in this SLA assumes compliance by the Customer with the Terms and Conditions governing the services to be provided by Digicon. The failure of the Customer to comply with any or all of the Terms and Conditions may void the Customer's eligibility to receive the various Guarantees provided herein. Digicon is not liable for failure to fulfill its obligations hereunder if such failure is in any way due to: (i) the Customer's use of bandwidth in excess of the amount specified on the Customer's Service Order Form: (ii) the Customer's tampering with any equipment: or (iii) acts beyond Digicon's reasonable control, including but not limited to Force Majeure.

SLA Modification

1. Digicon, in its sole discretion, may modify, amend or revise this SLA at any time and for any reason without notice. Such modifications and/or revisions will be deemed effective upon posting an updated SLA to Digicon's Website located at Digicon Service Level Agreement.

Revision: June 2008