Standard Form of Agreement – Section A: General Terms

Your agreement with Lightning IP (Agreement) is made up of:

(a) these General Terms (Section A); (b) the Product Specific Terms for each Service you order (Section B). There is a separate Section B document for each product we sell — see The Section B and Section C documents below; (c) the Common Terms that apply across our Services (Section C); (d) the policies referred to in this Agreement, including our Financial Hardship Policy, Complaints Handling Policy, Privacy Policy and Acceptable Use Policy (Section D); and (e) your Critical Information Summary, and any quote or other plan documentation we give you when you order a Service.

If there is any inconsistency between these documents:

(f) the Product Specific Terms prevail over these General Terms and the Common Terms, to the extent of the inconsistency; and (g) your Critical Information Summary or quote prevails over all of them, to the extent it sets out different pricing, inclusions or a different Minimum Term for your Service.

This Agreement is published at lightningip.com.au. You only need to read the Section B document for the Service or Services you actually have.

In this Agreement, "we", "us" and "our" means Lightning IP Pty Ltd ABN 41 649 028 240, and "you" and "your" means the customer named on the account. "Service" means any telecommunications service we supply to you, and "Equipment" means any hardware we supply to you in connection with a Service. Other capitalised terms are defined in the Definitions section at the end of this Section.

A reference to a piece of legislation, or to an industry code or industry standard registered or made under the Telecommunications Act 1997 (including the Telecommunications Act 1997, the Australian Consumer Law, and any ACMA-registered code or standard), is a reference to that instrument as amended, replaced or remade from time to time — including where it is replaced by a differently named instrument covering the same subject matter (for example, if an industry code is replaced by an ACMA-made industry standard).

Headings are for convenience only and do not affect how this Agreement is interpreted.

We are Lightning IP Pty Ltd ABN 41 649 028 240 of Level 1, 561 Olive Street, Albury NSW 2640.

We are a carriage service provider under the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth). We supply most of our Services using networks and wholesale services provided by other carriers and carriage service providers, and we operate our own IP Voice platform — see the Our network and our Suppliers section of Section C.

You can contact us:

(a) by phone on 1300 994 884; (b) through the contact channels published at lightningip.com.au; or (c) by mail at PO Box 86, Albury NSW 2640.

Use the same contact details for a complaint, a request for help under our Financial Hardship Policy, a privacy request, or to report network abuse.

Our support hours are 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Outside those hours you can reach us by email or through our virtual reception. If you report a major fault outside business hours, or a fault on a Service that has an enhanced service level agreement, an on-call technician will be made available.

We are a member of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman scheme, and we are registered with Communications Compliance.

This Agreement applies to both Consumer Customers and Business Customers.

Some provisions of this Agreement apply only to one type of customer. Where that is the case, the clause says so — for example, by beginning "If you are a Business Customer".

Where an industry code or standard gives additional protections to a class of customer (for example, protections that apply to residential customers, or to small business customers under a spend threshold), we will comply with those protections for customers in that class, even if a clause of this Agreement would otherwise apply differently. If there is any inconsistency between this Agreement and a protection of that kind, the protection prevails.

This Agreement is a standard form of agreement offered to the public. We may also enter into a separately negotiated agreement with a Business Customer, in which case that agreement prevails over this one to the extent of any inconsistency.

This Agreement is published as a set of documents rather than one long one, so you can read the parts that apply to you.

Section B — Product Specific Terms. There is one document for each Service we sell:

(a) nbn Home and Business Plans — internet over the nbn network, on any of the access technologies available at your address; (b) Enterprise Fibre — dedicated business-grade fibre, delivered over nbn Enterprise Ethernet or Telstra Wholesale Ethernet Access, and the only Service with a Minimum Term; (c) Mobile — mobile voice, SMS and data over the Telstra Wholesale Mobile Network; (d) 4G Backup Service — a failover connection for a site, supplied over the Optus network and coupled with an active internet Service; and (e) Hosted Voice (IPV Hosted PBX) — hosted telephony carried on our own IP Voice platform.

Only the documents for the Services you have apply to you. If you have more than one Service, more than one applies.

Section C — Common Terms. These apply across all Services, and cover the things that are the same no matter what you buy: the networks and Suppliers we rely on, planned works and outages, faults and repairs, phone numbers and the IPND, transferring to and from another provider, emergency calls, fair use, equipment and cabling, lawful assistance, scam and unwelcome communications, and our own IP Voice network.

Section D — Policies. These are maintained as standalone documents so they can be updated on their own. They cover financial hardship, complaints, privacy, acceptable use, marketing, priority assistance and vulnerable customers, online safety, coverage and service availability, equipment warranty and returns, and how we notify you of changes.

Where a Section B or Section C document refers to another part of this Agreement, it does so by the title of the clause or section rather than by a number, because the numbering is generated when the Agreement is published.

You must be at least 18 years old to enter into this Agreement as an individual customer. If you are entering into this Agreement on behalf of a business or other organisation, you confirm that you have the authority to bind that organisation to this Agreement.

You must give us accurate and complete information when you apply for a Service, including any information we reasonably request to carry out a credit assessment or verify your identity. We rely on this information to assess your application and to meet our obligations under applicable law.

You accept this Agreement when you do any of the following: submit an order for a Service; use a Service after we've given you a reasonable opportunity to review this Agreement; or continue using a Service after we've given you notice of a change under the Changes we may make to this Agreement clause.

Before you enter into this Agreement, we will give you a Critical Information Summary for your plan, setting out the key pricing, inclusions and minimum term information for that plan in a standard, easy-to-compare format.

Before providing a Service, or at any time during your Agreement with us, we may carry out a credit assessment — including checking your credit history with a credit reporting body — and verify your identity using government-issued identification or other reasonable means.

We assess applications having regard to the applicant's likely ability to meet the ongoing costs of the Service applied for. Depending on the outcome of that assessment, we may decline an application, require a security deposit, or offer a different plan or payment arrangement.

We handle information collected for credit assessment purposes in accordance with our Privacy Policy (Section D) and applicable credit reporting law.

Where a cooling-off right applies to the way your Service was sold — for example under the unsolicited consumer agreement provisions of the Australian Consumer Law, or under an applicable industry code or standard — you may cancel your Agreement within the cooling-off period without paying an early termination Charge. We will tell you at the point of sale if a cooling-off right applies and how long it lasts.

You may also cancel a Service we have not yet connected. If you do, we may charge you for costs we have already reasonably incurred in preparing to supply the Service, as described in the If you change your mind before we connect your Service clause.

If you cancel within a cooling-off period, you must pay for any Service you have actually used, and return any Equipment we have supplied in the condition it was supplied in.

You can authorise another person to deal with us about your account — for example a family member, a business colleague, an advocate or a financial counsellor. You can give us an authority for a single interaction or on an ongoing basis, and you can tell us to cancel it at any time.

An authorised person may do the things you tell us they can do, which may include getting information about your account, making changes to your Service, or making payments. You remain responsible for Charges incurred and changes made by a person you have authorised.

Before we act on an instruction, or give out information about your account, we will verify the identity of the person we are dealing with using the verification method we have agreed with you (which may include a one-time PIN sent to your nominated number or email). We may decline to act where we cannot verify identity, or where we reasonably suspect fraud or that a person is acting without your authority.

If you tell us you are affected by family or domestic violence, or that an account has been established or is being used without your consent, we will handle your account in accordance with our Priority Assistance and Vulnerable Customers Policy (Section D), including reviewing who holds authority on the account.

Your Agreement for a Service starts on the date we activate that Service.

Most Services are supplied on a month-to-month basis with no minimum term, and continue until either of us ends them in accordance with the Ending your Agreement clauses of this Section.

Enterprise Fibre Services are supplied for a Minimum Term of 12, 24 or 36 months, chosen by you when you order. Your Minimum Term is set out in your quote and Critical Information Summary. Once a Minimum Term ends, the Service continues on a month-to-month basis unless you and we agree a new term.

This clause applies only to Services with a Minimum Term — in practice, Enterprise Fibre Services.

We will contact you before your Minimum Term ends to explain your options, including renewing for a new term, moving to month-to-month, or ending the Service.

We will not automatically commit you to a new Minimum Term without your agreement. If you take no action, your Service continues on a month-to-month basis on the terms that applied immediately before your Minimum Term ended, unless your Critical Information Summary says otherwise.

We may change this Agreement, including our prices, from time to time — for example, to reflect changes in the law, industry codes or standards, our costs of doing business, or the way we deliver Services.

If a change is likely to have a material detrimental impact on you, we will give you at least 30 days' notice by email, SMS, or a message on your bill before the change takes effect, unless the law requires a different notice period (for example, under an ACMA-registered industry code or standard), in which case we will comply with that requirement instead.

If we make a change that has a material detrimental impact on you, you may end your Service without an early termination charge by telling us within 42 days of the change taking effect. This right does not apply to changes required by law, or to minor changes — such as formatting, correcting an error, or clarifications — that don't reduce your rights or increase your obligations.

We will not rely on this clause to include or apply a term that would be an unfair contract term under the Australian Consumer Law.

You can ask us to change your plan, add or remove a Service, or update your account details at any time. Some changes — such as moving to a plan with a shorter minimum term — may affect fees or benefits you would otherwise have received.

We will tell you about any fees or changed terms that apply before we action a change you've requested.

You must give us accurate and current contact and billing information when you order a Service, and tell us promptly if any of that information changes.

If we can't contact you because your details are out of date, this doesn't affect our ability to send you notices, bills or other communications under this Agreement using the last details you gave us.

You must not use a Service for an unlawful purpose, or in a way that damages our network, threatens the safety of any person, or unreasonably interferes with another customer's use of their service.

You must not resell a Service without our prior written agreement, unless your plan is specifically sold as a wholesale or resale product.

We may take reasonable steps to identify and act on content or conduct on our network that we're required to act on under a notice from the eSafety Commissioner, or under an ACMA-registered industry code or standard — including blocking, filtering or removal action — without that action being treated as a failure to supply your Service.

Where we supply Equipment to you as part of your Service (such as a modem or router), you must take reasonable care of it and use it only as we direct.

Unless your plan says the Equipment is yours to keep, you must return it to us in good working order (fair wear and tear excepted) within a reasonable period after your Agreement ends, or we may charge you its non-return value.

Where we or a Supplier need access to your premises to install, inspect, maintain, repair, replace or remove Equipment or a Service, you must:

(a) give safe and reasonable access at the agreed time, including access to any relevant cabling, sockets, network termination device or power supply; (b) ensure an adult (18 years or over) is present for any appointment at a residential premises where required; (c) tell us about anything at the premises that may affect safety, including animals, asbestos, or hazardous conditions; and (d) obtain any consent needed from the owner, body corporate, or another person with an interest in the premises before installation work begins.

You are responsible for obtaining any landlord or body corporate consent required for work at the premises, and for any obligation to restore the premises under your lease or by-laws.

If access is not available at an agreed appointment time, or work cannot proceed safely or because a required consent has not been obtained, a Charge may apply as described in the Fees that apply in particular situations clause, and your connection or repair may be delayed.

You must take reasonable steps to keep your account credentials secure, including passwords, PINs, one-time codes, SIM cards and any equipment login details, and not share them with anyone you have not authorised.

You must tell us as soon as reasonably practicable if you become aware, or reasonably suspect, that:

(a) your account credentials or Service have been accessed or used without your authority; (b) a SIM card or Equipment connected to your Service has been lost or stolen; or (c) there has been any other security incident affecting your Service.

We will act promptly on a report of that kind, including by barring or suspending the affected Service where appropriate. Where a Service or a phone number is used fraudulently, we will work with you and, where necessary, with Suppliers and law enforcement, in accordance with the applicable industry codes on fraud, scam calls and unwelcome communications.

You are responsible for all use of your Service, and all Charges incurred on it, whether or not you personally authorised that use — including use by members of your household, your employees or contractors, or a person you have permitted to use your Service.

You are not responsible for Charges arising from:

(a) unauthorised use that continues after you have reported the loss, theft or unauthorised use of your Service or a SIM card to us, from the time of that report; (b) our error, or the error of a Supplier; or (c) fraud committed by us or a Supplier, or by a person acting with our authority.

You must not resupply or resell a Service, or allow another person to resupply or resell it, unless we have agreed in writing or the Service is sold to you as a wholesale product. Additional restrictions on how particular Services may be used are set out in Section B and in our Acceptable Use Policy (Section D).

You must pay us all Charges for each Service supplied to you, including:

(a) recurring Charges for your plan (for example a monthly plan fee); (b) usage Charges for anything not included in your plan (for example international calls, or usage beyond an included allowance); (c) one-off Charges (for example connection, activation, installation, equipment or relocation Charges); and (d) any other Charges set out in your Critical Information Summary, your Product Specific Terms, our price list, or otherwise agreed with you.

The Charges that apply to your Service are those set out in your Critical Information Summary and our price list published at lightningip.com.au, as amended in accordance with the Changes we may make to this Agreement clause.

All advertised prices include GST where applicable.

We bill by calendar month. At the start of each calendar month we issue an invoice for the Service for that month, together with any usage Charges from the previous month and any one-off Charges. Your Service runs on a rolling monthly basis with a minimum of one month.

We issue bills electronically, to the email address or online account associated with your account. We do not issue paper bills. If you are unable to receive or access an electronic bill — for example because of a disability, or because you have no reliable internet access — tell us and we will provide your bill in a format you can access, at no charge.

We may bill you outside your usual cycle where: you change plan or add a Service; you relocate a Service; you ask us to bill previously unbilled Charges; we reasonably believe you may present a credit risk; or we otherwise agree with you.

If we have not billed a Charge, that does not mean you do not have to pay it. We may include a Charge on a later bill, but we will not bill you for usage Charges more than 190 days after the usage occurred — unless we have advised you that we are expecting Charges to pass through from a Supplier after that period, in which case we will tell you at the time and bill them when they reach us.

You must pay each bill in full by the due date shown on it, which will be at least 14 days after the date of the bill.

We offer several ways to pay:

(a) automatic payments from a debit card, credit card or bank account; (b) instant payments via PayID; (c) direct credit using BPAY; and (d) for ABN holders, a Direct Credit facility with a unique BSB and account number.

Our automatic payment arrangements are set out in our Direct Debit Service Agreement.

We do not charge a card surcharge. Some other payment methods may attract a fee. Any charges associated with a payment method are listed on your invoice and charged to your next bill.

You must pay Charges without set-off, counterclaim or deduction, except to the extent you are entitled to withhold payment of a disputed amount under the If you think your bill is wrong clause.

If a payment is not made by its due date, or an automatic payment is declined or dishonoured, we may:

(a) charge a late payment or dishonour fee. The current amount of any such fee is shown on your bill. We keep fee amounts on the bill rather than in this Agreement so that they stay current, and we will give you at least 30 days' notice before a changed fee takes effect; (b) recover from you the reasonable costs we actually incur in recovering the amount owing, including debt collection or legal costs reasonably incurred; (c) contact you about the overdue amount and the options available to you; and (d) restrict, suspend or cancel your Service in accordance with the Suspending or restricting your Service clause.

We will not charge a late payment or dishonour fee where the delay is caused by our error.

Before we take credit management action, we will consider whether you may be experiencing financial hardship, and we will tell you about our Financial Hardship Policy (Section D). If you tell us you are having difficulty paying, we will assess you for assistance under that policy before continuing credit management action.

If you believe a bill is wrong, or that you have been overcharged, contact us. There is no time limit on raising a billing dispute with us — if we have billed you incorrectly, we want to know about it whenever you find it.

While we are investigating a genuine billing dispute:

(a) you must still pay any undisputed part of the bill by its due date; (b) we will not require you to pay the disputed amount, and we will not restrict, suspend or cancel your Service, or commence credit management action, in relation to the disputed amount; and (c) we will handle the dispute as a complaint under our Complaints Handling Policy (Section D).

If we find you have been overcharged, we will credit or refund the amount overcharged. If we find you have been undercharged, we will bill you the amount owing, and we will give you a reasonable opportunity to pay it — including by instalments where the amount is significant and the undercharging was our error.

Nothing in this clause limits your right to take your complaint to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman or to bring legal proceedings.

If, when you apply for a Service or at any time afterwards, we reasonably believe there is a material risk that you may not pay for your Service, we may require you to:

(a) pay a security deposit or bond; or (b) pay for your Service in advance, based on our reasonable estimate of your usage for a billing period.

We will tell you why we are asking, and how much we require. If you do not provide the deposit or advance payment when we reasonably ask for it, we may decline your application or restrict, suspend or cancel the Service.

We hold a security deposit as security for amounts you owe us. When your Service ends, or when we are reasonably satisfied the risk has passed, we will apply the deposit against any amount you owe and refund the balance to you. We will not require a security deposit or advance payment from a customer as a condition of continued supply while that customer is meeting the terms of an approved arrangement under our Financial Hardship Policy.

If you are, or become, bankrupt or insolvent, you must tell us.

When a Service ends, we will issue a final bill showing any amount you owe us or any amount we owe you.

If you cancel part-way through a month. We bill for a whole calendar month, so cancelling on (say) the 21st does not reduce that month's Charge. We will credit the unused part of the month to your account on a pro-rata basis. That credit:

(a) stays on your account and is applied against future Charges; (b) can be used if you take a Service with us again later — for example when you move house and reconnect at the new address; and (c) is not paid out as cash.

We apply this credit as a matter of course. You do not need to ask for it, and we will show it on your final bill.

If you have overpaid. Where you have genuinely paid us more than you owed — a duplicated payment, a payment made after an account was already settled, or an amount billed in error — that is your money and we will refund it to you in cash. Contact us and we will arrange it using a method we agree with you.

Other points. We may deduct any amount you owe us from any credit or refund. Installation, connection and activation Charges are not refundable once the work has been performed, except where we are unable to provide the Service you ordered or the Charge was applied in error.

Nothing in this clause limits any right you have to a refund under the Australian Consumer Law, including where a Service was not supplied or where there has been a major failure.

We provide tools to help you monitor your usage and spend, including usage information in your online account and, for Services with included allowances, notifications when you approach or exceed an allowance.

Usage information we make available in near real time is indicative only and may not include all Charges — in particular, usage carried on a Supplier's network (such as international roaming) may be reported to us after a delay, and will appear on a later bill.

You remain responsible for all Charges incurred on your Service, including Charges incurred after an allowance is exhausted and Charges reported to us late by a Supplier. Where a Service has a spend control or hard cap available, we will tell you in your Product Specific Terms or Critical Information Summary.

Depending on your Service and what happens during your Agreement, the following Charges may apply. The amount of each is set out in your Critical Information Summary or our price list:

(a) Connection, installation or activation Charges — these apply to some Services, and include any Charge a Supplier passes on to us for work at your premises. We will tell you before you order whether a Charge applies to your Service. (b) Build contribution — for an Enterprise Fibre Service, where a Supplier quotes a contribution toward the cost of extending fibre to your site. This is quoted per site before you commit. (c) Relocation Charge — to move a Service to a new address. (d) Missed appointment or no-access Charge — where an appointment is missed, or a technician cannot get safe access to your premises, and a Supplier charges us for the wasted visit. We reserve the right to pass these on, though in practice nbn rarely charges us for them. (e) No-fault or customer-fault callout Charge — as described in the Faults and service assurance section of Section C. Same position as above: reserved, rarely applied. (f) Equipment Charges — for Equipment you buy from us, and non-return or damage Charges for Equipment that remains ours. (g) Early termination Charge — only for Enterprise Fibre Services, as described in the Ending your Agreement (by you) clause. (h) Service cancellation Charge before provisioning — as described in the If you change your mind before we connect your Service clause. (i) Late payment, dishonour and recovery costs — as described in the If a payment is late or fails clause. (j) Payment method fees — we do not charge card surcharges; some other payment methods may attract a fee, which is shown on your invoice.

We do not charge a reconnection fee, we do not charge for replacement SIM cards, and we do not charge for bills or itemised records.

We will not charge you a fee that is not disclosed to you in your Critical Information Summary, our price list, your Product Specific Terms, or otherwise agreed with you before the fee is incurred.

We may suspend or restrict your Service (in whole or part) if: you don't pay an amount that's due; you breach this Agreement and don't fix the breach after we ask you to; we reasonably believe your Service is being used fraudulently or unlawfully; we need to protect the security or integrity of our network, including to meet our obligations under Part 14 of the Telecommunications Act 1997; or we're directed or requested to act by a government agency or under an ACMA-registered industry code or standard, including a notice from the eSafety Commissioner.

Except where there is an immediate risk to network security, emergency call access, or the law requires us to act immediately, we will give you reasonable notice and an opportunity to fix the issue before we suspend or restrict your Service for non-payment or breach.

We will not suspend or cancel your Service for non-payment while you are participating in, and meeting the terms of, an approved financial hardship arrangement under our Financial Hardship Policy (Section D).

Where your Service is capable of accessing the "Triple Zero" (000) emergency call service, we provide that access in accordance with the Emergency Call Service Determination and the relevant ACMA-registered industry code covering emergency call services.

Some Services — including services that rely on an internet connection or mains power — may not work during a power or internet outage, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)-based services may have limitations that a traditional fixed telephone line doesn't. We'll tell you about any known limitations affecting emergency call access for your Service before you sign up, and you should have an alternative way to contact emergency services during an outage.

When we exercise a right under this Agreement to restrict, suspend or cancel a Service, we will:

(a) act reasonably, and only to the extent reasonably necessary to protect our legitimate business interests, the security or integrity of a network, or the safety of any person, or to comply with the law; (b) where practicable, take an escalating approach — contacting you first, then restricting the Service, then suspending it, and only cancelling where the issue is not resolved or the circumstances require it; and (c) give you notice, and a reasonable opportunity to fix the issue, except where the law requires immediate action or where there is an immediate risk to network security, to the safety of a person, or of significant financial loss or fraud.

Charges during a suspension depend on why the Service is suspended:

(d) where you have asked us to suspend the Service, or where it is suspended as part of credit management for an overdue amount, recurring Charges continue to accrue; but (e) where the Service is suspended for a reason described in When external factors affect your Service — for example a Supplier withdrawing an underlying service, network work, an emergency, or a Force Majeure Event — no recurring Charges apply for the period of the suspension. You should not pay for a Service you cannot use because of something neither of us chose.

You remain responsible for Charges incurred before the restriction or suspension. Where technically feasible, we will maintain your ability to make calls to the emergency call service throughout.

We may also need to restrict, suspend or cancel a Service, or a Service may be interrupted, in the following circumstances:

(a) Emergencies and safety — there is an emergency, or we reasonably believe supplying the Service may cause death, personal injury or damage to property, or presents a risk to the security or integrity of a network. (b) Legal and regulatory requirements — we are required or directed to act by law, by a court, by a government agency, an emergency service organisation, the ACMA, or under an ACMA-registered industry code or standard (including a notice from the eSafety Commissioner), or supplying the Service would contravene the law. (c) Network work and faults — a network is being repaired, maintained, modernised or upgraded, or there is a technical failure. See the Planned works, maintenance and outages section of Section C. (d) Supply capability — a Supplier withdraws, suspends, changes or ceases to supply an underlying network or service we rely on to supply your Service, or a technology on which your Service depends is decommissioned. (e) Extended force majeure — a Force Majeure Event prevents us from supplying the Service for 30 days or more. (f) Long-term inactivity — your Service has not been used for a continuous period of 24 months and we have given you notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond.

Where any of these occur, we will use reasonable endeavours to minimise disruption and restore your Service as soon as reasonably practicable, and we will keep you informed in accordance with Section C. Where we cancel a Service under paragraph (d) or (e), we will not charge you an early termination Charge, and we will help you find an alternative Service where one is reasonably available.

We will restore a restricted or suspended Service as soon as reasonably practicable after the reason for the restriction or suspension has been resolved — for example, once an overdue amount is paid or a payment arrangement is agreed, or once a breach has been remedied.

A reconnection Charge may apply as described in the Fees that apply in particular situations clause. No reconnection Charge applies where the restriction or suspension resulted from our error, or from an event described in the When external factors affect your Service clause.

If a Service has been cancelled rather than suspended, restoring it may require a new application, a new Service Qualification, and a new connection — and we cannot guarantee you will get the same phone number, IP address or connection type back.

You can end your Agreement for a Service at any time by contacting us.

Most of our Services are month to month. nbn Home and Business Plans, Mobile Services, 4G Backup and Hosted Voice are supplied on a rolling monthly basis with a minimum of one month. You can cancel at any time and no early termination Charge applies. Because we bill for a whole calendar month, cancelling part-way through a month does not reduce that month's Charge — see Credits, refunds and your final bill for how we handle the unused part.

Enterprise Fibre Services run for their term. An Enterprise Fibre Service is supplied for a Minimum Term of 12, 24 or 36 months and cannot simply be cancelled part-way through. You can keep paying monthly to the end of the term, prepay the balance, or cancel the Service outright — but our Supplier charges us for the remainder of the term in any case, and that amount is passed on to you. The options, and the reason for them, are set out in Your options if you no longer need the Service during the term in the Enterprise Fibre terms, and the amounts are in your application form and Critical Information Summary.

You will not be charged a termination amount where you end your Service under the Changes we may make to this Agreement clause, during any cooling-off period that applies to your sale, where we have failed to supply the Service, or where the law otherwise entitles you to end your Service without charge.

We may end your Agreement for a Service by giving you reasonable notice, including where: you have seriously or repeatedly breached this Agreement; your Service has been suspended and the reason for suspension continues for an extended period; you have provided false or misleading information in connection with your application; or we stop supplying the type of Service you use — in which case we'll give you at least 30 days' notice and help you find an alternative where reasonably possible.

We will not end your Agreement for non-payment while you are participating in, and meeting the terms of, an approved financial hardship arrangement under Section D.

When your Agreement for a Service ends, we will issue you a final bill for any charges up to the date it ends, including any applicable early termination charge. You remain responsible for any amounts owing under this Agreement after it ends.

If you have a phone number connected to your Service, you may be able to port that number to another provider in accordance with the Telecommunications Numbering Plan and applicable number portability industry codes. Porting your number away does not, by itself, end your Agreement or any minimum term obligations for the underlying Service.

If you order a Service and cancel it before we complete provisioning, we may charge you for the costs we have reasonably incurred in preparing to supply the Service — for example, a cancellation or abortive-visit Charge that a Supplier passes on to us, or the cost of Equipment already dispatched to you.

We will tell you the amount before we charge it, and it will not exceed the costs we have actually incurred. This clause does not affect any cooling-off right you have under the Your right to change your mind clause.

We may cancel a Service for reasons other than your breach, as follows:

(a) where no Minimum Term applies, by giving you at least 30 days' notice; (b) after a Minimum Term has ended, by giving you at least 30 days' notice; (c) during a Minimum Term, only where you agree, or where we offer to migrate you to a reasonably comparable alternative Service for the remainder of the Minimum Term and take reasonable steps to offset any more than minor detrimental effects of the migration; or (d) at any time before your Service start date, if we reasonably determine it is not technically or operationally feasible to supply the Service to you — for example, where a Service Qualification or a site visit shows the Service cannot be delivered at your address.

If we cancel a Service under this clause, we will not charge you an early termination Charge, and we will refund any amount you have paid in advance for a period after the Service ends.

Once a Service ends:

(a) you must stop using the Service, and stop using any Equipment that belongs to us or a Supplier; (b) you must return any Equipment that is not yours to keep, in good working order (fair wear and tear excepted), within 21 days, or allow us or a Supplier reasonable access to collect or remove it. If you do not, we may charge you the non-return value set out in your Critical Information Summary or our price list; (c) you remain responsible for all Charges incurred up to the date the Service ends, and for any amount owing afterwards; and (d) any allowances, credits or unused inclusions attached to the Service are forfeited, unless the law provides otherwise or we say otherwise.

We may delete data associated with your Service — including any email, hosting or storage content — a reasonable period after your Service ends. You are responsible for backing up anything you want to keep before your Service ends. Where we hold records we are required by law to retain (for example under Part 5-1A of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (Cth)), we retain them for the period the law requires and handle them in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

If a phone number connected to your Service is not ported away before the Service ends, we may return it to the pool of available numbers, after which it cannot be recovered.

Our Services come with consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot be excluded — including guarantees that services will be provided with due care and skill and be reasonably fit for the purpose for which they were acquired. Nothing in this Agreement excludes, restricts or modifies these guarantees, or any other right you have under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot lawfully be excluded.

To the extent permitted by law, our liability to you for loss arising from a breach of this Agreement, or a failure to comply with a consumer guarantee where liability can lawfully be limited, is limited (at our option) to resupplying the Service or paying the cost of having the Service resupplied.

We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, except to the extent that liability cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law or other applicable law. Nothing in this clause limits our liability in a way that would make this Agreement, or any term of it, an unfair contract term under the Australian Consumer Law.

The CSG sets minimum performance standards for the connection and repair of a standard telephone service, and for keeping appointments, and provides for monetary compensation if those standards are not met.

Where we supply you with a standard telephone service to which the CSG applies, we will comply with the CSG, and you may be entitled to compensation if we do not meet it.

The CSG does not apply, or applies differently:

(a) where you have agreed to waive your CSG entitlements — if a waiver applies to your Service, we will tell you before you sign up, and it will be recorded in your Critical Information Summary, Product Specific Terms or application; (b) to Services that are not a standard telephone service — including internet-only Services and, generally, mobile Services; (c) where you have more than five standard telephone services; (d) where a delay is caused by circumstances the CSG excludes — for example, you unreasonably refuse access to your premises, you miss an appointment without reasonable notice, a Force Majeure Event applies, or a mass service disruption exemption has been granted; or (e) to Your Equipment.

For Services not covered by the CSG, we will connect and repair your Service within a reasonable time, having regard to the service levels our Suppliers owe us — which are described for each product in Section B. More information about the CSG is available from the ACMA at acma.gov.au.

To the extent permitted by law, and subject to the Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law clause, we are not liable for:

(a) faults, delays, degradation or loss caused by Your Equipment, your internal cabling, your Wi-Fi environment, your power supply, or a change to the environment at or around your premises after installation; (b) content, applications or services supplied by a third party that you access using your Service, or a third party's failure to supply them; (c) loss caused by your failure to comply with this Agreement, including a failure to keep your account credentials secure or to give safe access to your premises; (d) a Service not being available, or not performing as expected, at a particular location or time, where we have disclosed the relevant limitation to you — including coverage, speed and performance limitations described in Section B and our Coverage and Service Availability Disclosure (Section D); (e) loss arising from a Force Majeure Event, or from any circumstance described in the When external factors affect your Service clause; or (f) loss you could have avoided by taking reasonable steps, including by backing up your data.

Where a fault originates in a Supplier's network or systems, our obligation is to report and escalate the fault to that Supplier and to keep you informed, as described in the Faults and service assurance section of Section C. We are not responsible for a Supplier's failure to rectify a fault within the service levels that Supplier owes us.

Nothing in this clause excludes or limits any liability we have that cannot be excluded or limited by law, including under the Australian Consumer Law.

Neither party is liable for a failure or delay in performing an obligation under this Agreement (other than an obligation to pay money) to the extent the failure or delay is caused by a Force Majeure Event — an event beyond that party's reasonable control, including a natural disaster, fire, flood, storm, earthquake, pandemic or epidemic, war, act of terrorism, civil disturbance, industrial action (other than involving that party's own workforce), cable or infrastructure damage caused by a third party, failure of a public utility including a power outage, or an act or omission of a government agency.

The affected party must tell the other party as soon as reasonably practicable, and use reasonable endeavours to minimise the effect of the event and resume performance.

If a Force Majeure Event prevents us from supplying a Service for 30 days or more, either of us may cancel the affected Service by notice to the other, without an early termination Charge. Where a Service is unavailable for an extended period because of a Force Majeure Event, we will credit recurring Charges for the period of unavailability on request.

You are liable to us for loss we suffer as a result of your breach of this Agreement, including any amount a Supplier charges us because of your act or omission (for example, an abortive visit Charge or a Charge arising from your misuse of a Service).

If you are a Business Customer, you indemnify us against loss, damage, liability and reasonable costs we incur arising from: your breach of this Agreement; your use of a Service in a way this Agreement prohibits; a claim by a third party arising from content you transmit or make available using a Service; or a claim arising from your resupply of a Service in breach of the You are responsible for use of your Service clause.

Your liability under this clause is reduced proportionately to the extent the loss was caused or contributed to by us, a Supplier acting on our behalf, or a person for whom we are responsible. To the extent permitted by law, you are not liable to us for indirect or consequential loss.

If you're experiencing financial hardship, contact us — we offer a range of tailored assistance options under our Financial Hardship Policy (Section D), consistent with the Telecommunications (Financial Hardship) Industry Standard 2024. We will not sell your debt to a third party while you are participating in, and meeting the terms of, an active hardship arrangement.

If you have a complaint, contact us using the details on our website. We handle complaints in accordance with our Complaints Handling Policy (Section D), which meets the process and timeframes required under the Telecommunications (Consumer Complaints Handling) Industry Standard 2018.

If we can't resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, or you'd prefer to raise it externally at any time, you can contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO), a free and independent dispute resolution service. We are a member of the TIO scheme as required under section 128 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.

You can contact the TIO at tio.com.au, on 1800 062 058, or by mail — details are also available on our website and on your bill.

We collect, use, hold and disclose personal information about you in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and our Privacy Policy (Section D).

We apply the Australian Privacy Principles to all personal information we handle, regardless of whether an exemption might otherwise be available to us, and we comply with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

We collect personal information about you to assess your application, supply and support your Services, bill you and manage your account, meet our legal and regulatory obligations, and (where you have not opted out) tell you about products and services. Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, who we disclose it to, how you can access or correct it, and how to make a privacy complaint.

To supply your Services, we need to disclose some information about you and your Service to third parties, including:

(a) our Suppliers and their related entities, so they can provision, maintain and repair the networks and services underlying your Service; (b) other carriers and carriage service providers, where necessary to transfer or port a number, route traffic, manage faults, or prevent fraud; (c) the Integrated Public Number Database (IPND) operator, as described in the Phone numbers and public identifiers section of Section C; (d) credit reporting bodies and our credit and debt recovery service providers, in accordance with Part IIIA of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy; (e) our billing, payment, customer service and information technology providers, under contractual obligations of confidentiality; and (f) emergency service organisations, law enforcement and government agencies, as described in the Security, interception and lawful assistance section of Section C, or where the disclosure is otherwise required or authorised by law.

Where a Supplier or service provider is located overseas, or holds information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure your information is handled consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles.

We may contact you about products and services we think may interest you, in accordance with our Marketing Communications Policy (Section D), the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (Cth).

Every commercial electronic message we send you will identify us and include a functional way to unsubscribe. You can opt out of marketing at any time by using that mechanism or by contacting us, and we will action your request promptly.

Opting out of marketing does not stop us sending you communications we need to send you about your Service — for example bills, payment reminders, fault and outage notifications, planned works notices, notices of changes to this Agreement, or messages we are required by law or an industry code or standard to send you.

Each party must keep confidential any information of the other party that is by its nature confidential, or that is designated as confidential when it is disclosed, and must not use it except for the purposes of this Agreement.

This obligation does not apply to information that: is or becomes public other than through a breach of this clause; was already known to the receiving party without an obligation of confidence; is independently developed without reference to the other party's confidential information; or is required to be disclosed by law, a court, a regulator, or the rules of a securities exchange.

We may disclose the terms of your Agreement and information about your Service to a Supplier where reasonably necessary to supply, maintain or repair your Service, or to demonstrate our compliance with a Supplier's requirements or our legal or regulatory obligations.

We may give you a notice under this Agreement by email, SMS, mail, a message on your bill, or through your online account, using the details you have most recently given us. An electronic notice is taken to be received on the day it is sent, unless we receive a delivery failure notice. A posted notice is taken to be received 2 Business Days after posting if sent by registered post, and 4 Business Days after posting otherwise.

You can give us a notice by any method we publish at lightningip.com.au as an accepted way of contacting us, or by mail to PO Box 86, Albury NSW 2640.

It is your responsibility to keep your contact details current and to check the email address you have given us.

We may transfer or assign our rights and obligations under this Agreement, including to another carrier or carriage service provider, provided the transfer does not reduce your rights under this Agreement. We'll notify you if this happens.

You must not transfer or assign your rights or obligations under this Agreement without our prior written consent, which we won't unreasonably withhold.

If any part of this Agreement is found to be void, unenforceable or illegal, that part is removed to that extent, and the rest of this Agreement continues to apply.

If we don't enforce a right under this Agreement, or delay in doing so, that doesn't mean we've given up that right.

This Agreement is governed by the law of New South Wales, Australia, and the parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that State. Nothing in this clause affects any right you have to bring a complaint before the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman or another body under applicable law, or to bring proceedings in the courts of the State or Territory in which you live or carry on business.

We comply with the laws, industry codes and industry standards that apply to us as a carriage service provider, including the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth), the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 (Cth), the Australian Consumer Law, the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), and the ACMA-registered codes and ACMA-made standards that apply to the Services we supply.

If a provision of this Agreement is inconsistent with a requirement of a law, industry code or industry standard that applies to us and confers a protection on you, that requirement prevails and this Agreement is read as if modified to the extent necessary to comply with it.

Where an industry code or standard referred to in this Agreement is replaced or remade — including where an industry code is replaced by an ACMA-made industry standard covering the same subject matter — this Agreement applies as if it referred to the replacement instrument, and we will update this Agreement to reflect the change in accordance with the Changes we may make to this Agreement clause.

This Agreement, together with your Critical Information Summary and any other plan documentation we give you, is the entire agreement between us about the Services, and replaces any earlier representation, statement or understanding about them.

This clause does not limit:

(a) any right you have under the Australian Consumer Law, including in relation to misleading or deceptive conduct; (b) any representation we make to you in writing that we have agreed forms part of your Agreement; or (c) any protection given to you by an applicable industry code or standard.

In this Agreement:

4G Backup Service means our mobile-broadband failover Service, supplied over the Optus mobile network and coupled with an active internet Service.

ACMA means the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Agreement has the meaning given in the What makes up this Agreement clause.

Australian Consumer Law means Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth).

Business Customer means a customer who acquires a Service predominantly for use in a business, and who is not a Consumer Customer. The terms of each product are the same whether it is used privately or commercially — this definition is used only where the law or an industry code treats the two differently.

Business Day means a day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday in Albury, New South Wales.

Charges means all amounts payable by you for or in connection with a Service, including recurring, usage and one-off amounts, and any fees described in the Other fees you may need to pay section.

Consumer Customer means a customer who acquires a Service predominantly for personal, domestic or household use, or who is otherwise a consumer for the purposes of an applicable industry code or standard.

Critical Information Summary means the summary document we give you for a plan, setting out its key pricing, inclusions, minimum term and other key information in a standard format.

CSG means the customer service guarantee arrangements made under Part 5 of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 (Cth), including the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2023.

Enterprise Fibre means our dedicated business-grade fibre Service, delivered over nbn Enterprise Ethernet or Telstra Wholesale Ethernet Access. It is the only Service we sell that carries a Minimum Term.

Equipment means any hardware, device, cabling or software we or a Supplier supply to you in connection with a Service. Your Equipment means equipment you own or control that you connect to, or use with, a Service.

Force Majeure Event has the meaning given in the Force majeure clause.

Hardware as a Service or HaaS means an arrangement under which we loan you Equipment for a monthly Charge, month to month, as described in our Equipment Warranty and Returns Policy.

Hosted Voice Service means our IPV Hosted PBX Service, carried on the IP Voice platform we operate.

IP Voice platform means the voice platform owned and operated by Lightning IP, described in the Our IP Voice Network section of Section C.

IPND means the Integrated Public Number Database maintained under Part 4 of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth).

Lightning IP, we, us and our means Lightning IP Pty Ltd ABN 41 649 028 240 of Level 1, 561 Olive Street, Albury NSW 2640.

Minimum Term means a minimum contract period for a Service. Only Enterprise Fibre Services have one. All other Services are supplied month to month.

nbn means NBN Co Limited ABN 86 136 533 741, and nbn network means the telecommunications network it owns or operates.

Personal Information has the meaning given in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Product Specific Terms means the terms in the Section B document that applies to a particular Service.

Service means a telecommunications service, or a related good or service, that we supply to you under this Agreement.

Service Qualification means the checks we or a Supplier carry out to determine whether, and on what basis, a Service can be supplied to a particular address.

Supplier means a carrier, carriage service provider, aggregator or other wholesale supplier whose network, systems or services we use to supply a Service to you — including nbn, Telstra Wholesale, Optus, and our wholesale aggregators.

TC4 means the mass-market traffic class used for our nbn Home and Business Plans.

Telstra Wholesale Mobile Network means the mobile network operated by Telstra and supplied to us as a wholesale input, over which our mobile Services are carried.

TIO means the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

you and your means the customer named on the account, and includes anyone you authorise to deal with us about your account.

In this Agreement:

(a) the singular includes the plural and vice versa; (b) a reference to a person includes a company, partnership, trust or other entity; (c) words like "including", "for example" and "such as" do not limit what comes before them; (d) a reference to legislation, or to an industry code or standard, is a reference to it as amended, replaced or remade from time to time, as described in the Interpretation clause; (e) references to another part of this Agreement are made by section or clause title rather than by number, because clause numbers are generated automatically when this Agreement is published; and (f) if a provision of this Agreement would otherwise be an unfair contract term under the Australian Consumer Law, it is to be read down to the extent necessary so that it is not, and if it cannot be read down, it does not apply.

This Agreement is available at lightningip.com.au. We can give you a copy in an accessible format on request, and we will tell you how to access earlier versions of it.