Standard Form of Agreement – Section B: Enterprise Fibre

An Enterprise Fibre Service is a dedicated, business-grade fibre access service delivered to a single site, together with internet access and related services we supply over it.

It differs from an nbn Home or Business Plan in several ways that matter:

(a) the access is dedicated rather than contended — the capacity you buy is not shared with other customers in the way a mass-market service is; (b) it is symmetrical, so upload and download speeds are the same; (c) it is delivered over a point-to-point IP allocation (a /31) rather than the CG-NAT addressing used on our nbn Home and Business Plans; (d) it is quoted per site, because what it costs and how long it takes depend on the fibre that has to be built to reach you; and (e) it is the only Service we sell that carries a contract term.

An Enterprise Fibre Service is not a standard telephone service, and the CSG does not apply to it — see The Customer Service Guarantee clause in Section A.

We deliver Enterprise Fibre Services over one of two wholesale inputs:

(a) nbn Enterprise Ethernet, supplied by nbn; or (b) Telstra Wholesale Ethernet Access, supplied by Telstra Wholesale.

Which one we use for your site is our choice, based on what can be delivered at that address, what it will cost to build, and how long it will take. We will tell you which network your Service uses in your quote.

The service levels, availability targets and any rebates that apply to your Service follow the underlying wholesale product, and are set out in your quote and Critical Information Summary. Because the two products have different service levels, two Enterprise Fibre Services at different sites may not carry identical commitments — we will tell you what applies to each site before you commit.

As with all our Services, our obligations to you are described in the Our network and our Suppliers section of Section C: we do not own these networks, and a fault in a Supplier's network must be rectified by that Supplier.

Enterprise Fibre is quoted per site. Before we can quote, we (or a Supplier) carry out a site qualification to establish whether fibre can be delivered to your site, what build work is required, and at what cost.

A quote may be:

(a) indicative, based on desktop information and subject to a site survey; or (b) firm, where a survey has been completed and the build cost is known.

We will tell you which kind of quote you have. Your quote sets out the monthly Charge, any build contribution, the term options available to you, the service levels that apply, and how an early termination amount would be calculated.

A Supplier may require a contribution toward the cost of building fibre to your site. Where a build contribution applies, we will tell you the amount before you commit, and it will be set out in your quote.

If, after a site survey or during the build, the cost of delivering the Service increases materially above what your quote assumed, we will:

(a) tell you as soon as we know, and explain why; (b) give you a revised quote; and (c) give you the choice of proceeding on the revised terms or cancelling the order.

If you cancel in those circumstances, you will not pay an early termination Charge, and we will only charge you for costs already reasonably incurred at your direction — as described in the If you change your mind before we connect your Service clause in Section A.

We will not increase a firm quoted build contribution after you have accepted it, except where the increase results from something you have asked us to change, or from a condition at the site that could not reasonably have been identified during the survey.

The connection timeframes described for nbn Home and Business Plans do not apply to Enterprise Fibre. Because each site requires fibre to be built or extended, the timeframe depends on the work involved, and is quoted per site.

Build times are commonly measured in weeks to months rather than days, and can be affected by matters outside our control — including obtaining consents and permits, road and footpath access, weather, and a Supplier's construction scheduling.

We will give you the expected timeframe in your quote, tell you promptly if it changes, and keep you informed of progress during the build. We do not guarantee a build completion date, and we are not liable for loss arising from a delay in a Supplier's build programme — but if a build is delayed beyond a reasonable period, you may cancel the order without an early termination Charge.

An Enterprise Fibre build usually involves civil work outside your site and cabling work inside it. Before that work can start, consents are often needed — from the building owner, a body corporate or owners corporation, a landlord, a neighbouring property owner, or a local authority.

You must:

(a) obtain, or help us obtain, any consent required for the build, and give us the contact details of the people whose consent is needed; (b) give safe access to the site as described in the Access to your premises clause in Section A, including access to risers, communications rooms, and any path the fibre must take; and (c) tell us about anything at the site that affects the work, including hazardous materials, heritage restrictions, or restrictions on when work can be carried out.

Delays in obtaining consents are the most common cause of delay in an Enterprise Fibre build, and they sit outside our control. Where a required consent cannot be obtained, the Service may not be able to be delivered, and we will discuss your options with you — including cancelling the order without an early termination Charge.

When you order an Enterprise Fibre Service you choose a Minimum Term of 12, 24 or 36 months. Your quote will usually show a different monthly Charge for each option, because a longer term lets the cost of building the service be recovered over a longer period.

Your Minimum Term starts on the date we activate the Service, not the date you sign or the date the build starts.

What committing to a term means. For the length of the term, we supply the Service and you pay for it. The Service continues to be delivered to your site for the whole term whether or not you use it, and the monthly Charge continues to fall due. This is a genuine commitment on both sides — it is what allows the Service to be built for you in the first place — and it is different from every other Service we sell, all of which are month to month.

If your circumstances change during the term, read Your options if you no longer need the Service during the term below. There are choices available to you, and we would much rather talk about them than have you simply stop paying.

When your Minimum Term ends, the Service continues month to month on the same terms unless you and we agree a new term — see Renewal at the end of a minimum term in Section A. We will not roll you into a new term without your agreement.

An Enterprise Fibre Service cannot simply be cancelled part-way through its term. If you no longer need it, you have three options, and it is worth understanding that all three cost the same — what differs is whether you keep the Service and how you pay.

Option 1 — keep the Service and keep paying monthly. Nothing changes. The Service stays connected and available to your site for the rest of the term, and you pay the monthly Charge as it falls due. If there is any chance you will want the connection again, this is usually the sensible option.

Option 2 — prepay the balance of the term. You can choose to pay the remaining monthly Charges as a lump sum. Some customers prefer this — for example, where a business is being wound up and its owners want the account closed and finalised rather than carrying a monthly obligation. The Service remains available for the rest of the term.

Option 3 — cancel the Service entirely. You can end the Service, but our upstream Supplier charges us the remainder of the term when a service is cancelled, and we pass that amount on to you. So cancelling does not reduce what you pay; it only means the Service is disconnected and cannot be used or reinstated for the balance of the term.

Why it works this way. An Enterprise Fibre Service is not pulled off a shelf. Our Supplier plans it, designs it, builds it and installs the equipment for your specific site, and does that work on the basis that the Service will be in place for the term you have chosen. Our own contract with that Supplier runs for the full term, and they charge us for it whether or not you keep the Service. The monthly Charge carries a very low margin precisely because it spreads that build cost across the term. We are not making money from an early exit — we are passing on a cost we cannot avoid.

What you will be told before you commit. The termination amounts, and how they are calculated at any point in the term, are set out in your application form and Critical Information Summary. Read them before you sign, and ask us if anything is unclear.

When none of this applies. You will not pay a termination amount where you end the Service under the Changes we may make to this Agreement clause in Section A, where we have failed to supply the Service, where a build is delayed beyond a reasonable period, where we cancel the Service for convenience, or where the law otherwise entitles you to end the Service without charge — including your rights under the Australian Consumer Law if there is a major failure with the Service.

An Enterprise Fibre Service is built to a specific site and cannot simply be moved. If you need the Service at a different address during your Minimum Term:

(a) we will treat the new address as a new site, and quote it — including any build contribution required to reach it; (b) the Service at the old site remains subject to your existing term unless we agree otherwise; and (c) where we can, we will look at transferring the remaining term to the new site rather than running two commitments, and we will tell you honestly whether that is possible for your sites.

If you are vacating premises and a new occupier wants to take over the Service, contact us. Transferring the Service and its remaining term to them is often the cleanest outcome for everyone, and we will help arrange it where the incoming occupier meets our credit requirements.

An Enterprise Fibre Service is delivered over a point-to-point IP allocation (a /31). Unlike our nbn Home and Business Plans, it does not use CG-NAT addressing.

Additional static IP addresses are available on request. Because IPv4 address space is limited and allocations are governed by regional policy:

(a) you will need to make a declaration of your need for the addresses; and (b) where you request more than one address, you must actively use the additional addresses.

Any IP address we allocate is licensed to you for use with your Service while we supply it, and returns to us when the Service ends — see Static IP addresses and network features in the nbn Home and Business Plans terms for the general position on address allocation.

The service levels that apply to your Enterprise Fibre Service — including availability targets, fault response and restoration targets, and any rebates — are set out in your quote and Critical Information Summary, and reflect what our Supplier owes us for the underlying product.

Where a service level is missed and a rebate applies, the rebate is credited to your account. A rebate is the contractual remedy for a missed service level, but it does not limit your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, and it does not prevent you making a complaint or taking a matter to the TIO.

Rebates do not apply where the failure results from a Force Majeure Event, planned works notified in accordance with the Planned works and maintenance section of Section C, an act or omission of yours or of a person at your site, a fault in Your Equipment or internal cabling, or a loss of power at your site.

Report a fault on an Enterprise Fibre Service the same way as any other Service — see the Faults and service assurance section of Section C.

Faults on an Enterprise Fibre Service are raised with the relevant Supplier under that product's fault management process, which generally provides faster response and restoration targets than a mass-market service. Where your Service has an enhanced service level agreement, an out-of-hours fault will be picked up by an on-call technician, as described in Who we are and how to contact us in Section A.

The general position on chargeable callouts applies: if a fault turns out to be caused by Your Equipment, your internal cabling or your power supply, a Charge may apply, and we will tell you before arranging a chargeable visit.