Internet Service Performance | Midco Legal Notices

Internet Service Performance

Internet Service Performance, Terms, and Network Management Disclosure

Updated May 2021

This disclosure explains the performance characteristics, commercial terms, and network management practices for broadband internet services provided by Midcontinent Communications® (“Midco®” or the “company”). This disclosure may be changed at any time without notice. It is not a contract between Midco and its customers or any users of the service provided by Midco. This disclosure neither obligates Midco to provide any specific level of service nor to maintain any level of service or network configuration, and it creates no rights that are not already available to a customer or user by law or under any agreement with Midco.

Performance Characteristics and Pricing

Midco offers the following tiers of service (not all tiers are offered in every area). Note that test result data is not available at this time for fixed wireless internet or fiber internet packages.

Tier1 Avg. Download Speed1 Avg. Upload Speed1 Avg. Latency Avg. Jitter Packet Loss Residential Mo. Price1 Business Mo. List Price1
Midco Internet 25 or Midco Internet Basics 25.82 Mbps 4.61 Mbps 1.4 ms 0.8 ms 0 $14.95 $65.00
Midco Internet 50 54.41 Mbps 6.42 Mbps 2.9 ms 17.5 ms 0 $54.95 $85.00
Midco Internet 100 135.46 Mbps 23.19 Mbps 13.4 ms 45.7 ms 0 $64.95 $105.00
Midco Internet 200 233.76 Mbps 30.57 Mbps 11.4 ms 69.2 ms 0 $74.95 $135.00
Midco Internet 250 221.52 Mbps 25.45 Mbps 2.1 ms 1.9 ms 0 $99.95 NA
Midco Internet 500 528.62 Mbps 32.37 Mbps 5.6 ms 18.5 ms 0 $84.95 $165.00
Midco Gig Internet 946.28 Mbps 60.57 Mbps 5.4 ms 12.1 ms 0 $99.95 $200.00
1 Service and package availability vary by area. For residential customers, Midco Internet 25 is only available via the broadband Lifeline program (Midco.com/Lifeline) or Midco Internet Basics. Households must meet program qualifications. Midco Internet 250, Midco Internet 500 and Midco Gig Internet are not available in all areas. Some service tiers may only be available for residential or business customers, rather than both. For Midco Business internet packages, upload speeds are higher than for residential service. For residential services, check Midco.com for services and pricing available in your area. For business services, call 1.800.888.1300, or go to Midco.com/Business/Contact. Monthly price does not include discounts available for bundled services, or for business customer contract discounts.

The price of each service tier includes broadband internet access and built-in DDoS mitigation detection. Customers may purchase equipment required to use the service, such as a modem, from third parties or may lease the equipment from Midco. See details at Midco.com/Modems or Midco.com/Business/Modems.

On the wired coaxial network, the average download speed, average upload speed, packet loss, jitter and average latency are based on the top 50 customer test results 24/7 during one month in 2021. Speeds are measured on the Midco Network to the Customer's end device, directly wired to the Midco’s cable modem. Midco provisions modems at 10% above maximum package speed. Speeds available to an individual customer at any given time may vary and are dependent upon a number of factors, including the customer's connection to the cable modem and performance characteristics of other networks accessed by the Customer. Average speeds are impacted by network overhead and equipment limitations. Customer speeds also may be affected by network management practices, as described below.

Midco internet service may be provided by direct fiber connection to some customers, however for most homes and commercial locations we use DOCSIS cable modem technology running on a hybrid-fiber coaxial cable (“HFC”) architecture. Data transmission is bi-directional and asymmetrical, meaning that download speeds (from the internet) are greater than upload speeds (to the internet).

Midco’s HFC network uses coaxial cable connecting each subscriber’s cable modem to an optical node, and fiber-optic cables connecting the Optical Node, through distribution hubs, to the cable modem termination system (“CMTS”), which is also known as a “data node.” CMTS devices are then connected to higher-level routers, which in turn are connected to Midco’s internet backbone facilities. Each CMTS has multiple “ports” that handle traffic coming into and leaving the CMTS. In particular, each cable modem deployed on the Midco Network is connected to the CMTS through the ports on the CMTS. These ports can be either “downstream” ports or “upstream” ports, depending on whether they send information to cable modems (downstream) or receive information from cable modems (upstream) attached to the port. Both types of ports can experience congestion that could degrade the broadband experience of our customers.

Midco internet service is designed to be a low latency, “always on” service ideal for a wide variety of demanding internet applications, including real-time applications such as gaming, video streaming, plus the standard web browsing, email, photo uploads, etc. Network maintenance occasionally may be necessary to ensure that our network technology grows to meet the increasing demands of our customers. Coaxial and fiber network maintenance is generally infrequent, brief and usually conducted between the hours of 12 am and 6 am with notifications provided for interruptions that are expected to have a duration of more than two hours.

Impact of Non-Broadband Internet Access Services

Midco home phone and business voice service are specialized voice data services that use the same network path as our internet service, although local voice traffic never reaches the internet and stays within the Midco network. Due to the sensitive nature of phone traffic, it receives special prioritization. This ensures that 911 calls have special priority over web browsing, for example. A phone conversation only requires about 125 kilobits per second of data usage, which is about 2.5% of the capacity of our Midco Internet 50 upload speed and about 0.25% of the download speed. Voice traffic and voice traffic prioritization do not have a significant impact on Midco’s internet service.

Midco also offers other non-broadband internet access services using its network facilities, including voice telephone service, video service, and private line services. As Midco’s network currently is configured, these services and broadband internet service are provided over segregated portions of the available bandwidth, and usage of these services does not affect the capacity available for broadband internet access. Midco, however, may change the allocation of bandwidth at any time in the future, which could either increase or decrease the bandwidth available for broadband internet access.

Terms and Conditions of Service

Midco services are subject to the company’s policies, terms, and conditions as posted at Midco.com/Legal. These policies, terms, and conditions limit the company’s liability for service outages and other service-affecting conditions and requires customers, among other things, to pay for the services they purchase; to use the service for lawful purposes; to comply with the company’s Acceptable Use Policy; and to return any rented equipment in good condition once they no longer are purchasing service. Customers should read Midco policies, terms, and conditions before purchasing services from the company. The company’s policies, terms, and conditions may be changed at the company’s discretion in accordance with the terms of these legal documents.

Midco services are subject to the company’s Acceptable Use Policy. The Acceptable Use Policy, among other things, prohibits use of the service: (I) for unlawful purposes; (2) to harass or defame other individuals; (3) for commercial purposes (if purchased as a residential customer); or (4) to operate a server at the customer’s premises unless the customer specifically has purchased a service that permits such a use. Customers should read the entire Acceptable Use Policy before purchasing services from the company. The full Acceptable Use Policy is available at Midco.com/Legal. The Acceptable Use Policy may be changed at the company’s discretion, with or without notice.

We consider the privacy of our subscribers to be very important, and we are committed to keeping nonpublic personal information about our subscribers secure and confidential. Midco services are subject to the company’s privacy policy for broadband Internet service. Midco’s full Privacy Policy is available at Midco.com/Legal. The Privacy Policy may be changed at the company’s discretion, with or without notice.

Under the privacy policy, Midco may remotely check your modem to the extent necessary for determining whether it is susceptible to unauthorized access or the dissemination of computer viruses. We may also keep records of research concerning subscriber satisfaction with our services, which are obtained from subscriber interviews and questionnaires. In addition, we may have a record of whether you rent or own your home in the event that landlord permission is required prior to installing or maintaining our facilities, and may keep records of violations and alleged violations of Midco policies, terms, and conditions, and other rules governing your use of the ISP Service, including, but not limited to, the Acceptable Use Policy. We may sometimes obtain from third parties publicly available information about our subscribers.

The information described in the preceding paragraph is used for purposes such as sending you pertinent information about our services; maintaining and improving the quality of our services; answering questions from subscribers (i.e., for troubleshooting); ensuring compliance with relevant law and contractual provisions; protecting against unauthorized use of the services we provide; marketing cable or other services or products in which you may be interested; and for tax and accounting purposes.

Our system, in delivering and routing the ISP Services, may automatically log information concerning internet addresses you contact, and the duration of your visits to such addresses. We will not use or disclose any personally identifiable information that may be derived from these logs for marketing, advertising or similar purposes. We, in providing the ISP Service to you, also have access to personally identifiable information about you or your ISP account, including the name and address associated with a given IP address assigned to the Customer's modem at any particular time or, possibly, one or more email accounts. You have consented, in your Subscription Agreement, to the collection of personally identifiable information as described in this paragraph.

The company also may collect and store data on usage levels, sites accessed, and other usage characteristics for internal management purposes, including network design, capacity planning and analysis, and implementation of network management practices. Information the company collects or stores may be subject to disclosure to law enforcement and national security officials with appropriate authorization under state or federal law.

Network Management Practices

The following describes Midco’s network management practices as of the date this disclosure was prepared, and will be updated from time to time as practices are changed. The company reserves the right to take any appropriate measures, whether or not they are described below, in response to extraordinary levels of usage, denial of service attacks, or other exigent circumstances that have a significant effect on our customers’ ability to obtain service or the company’s ability to provide service.

Congestion Management Practices

Midco’s primary method of managing network congestion is to expand capacity as necessary to meet customer needs. Midco currently uses no congestion management techniques other than our standard levels of service, which limit speed based upon subscription level, and our ongoing work to continually provide enough bandwidth for our customers’ needs through network upgrades and speed increases.

Application-Specific Behavior

Midco does not intentionally block or inhibit any protocol or application-specific traffic.

Data Attachment Rules

Midco requires that customers use Midco-approved modems (for a list of approved modems, see Midco.com/Modems for residential and Midco.com/Business/Modems for business) and prohibits the connection of devices that cause harm to the network, compromise security, or are used for illegal purposes. For optimum performance on the coaxial network (and for Internet 500 and Midco Gig), Midco recommends DOCSIS 3.1 modems.

Security Practices

Midco employs specific security measures in the interest of our customers. By default, all incoming email to Midco Internet servers is scanned for spam and viruses. If spam email or a virus is detected, the email message is deleted. Outgoing email is scanned for viruses and deleted if a virus is found. These email security measures apply only to email provided by Midco. Mail traffic from Google accounts, Apple, and others is not subject to these security measures.

While Midco generally maintains an open network, Midco does filter commonly known virus and malware ports. These filtered ports are not utilized by normal internet services.

Midco seeks to protect customer security by implementing standard security measures, including password requirements for access to customer email and customer account information; limiting access to customer information by customer employees; and maintaining secure servers for customer information and email accounts. Attempts to breach customer information security are addressed based on the nature of the attempt and, depending on the circumstances, responses may include employee discipline, notification to the customer, blocking access to the customer account until security is reestablished or other appropriate measures. Midco monitors network activity to determine if there have been any security breaches, and responds appropriately to any breaches. Responses may include suspending or terminating accounts of any customers responsible for such breaches.

Copyright Infringement Policy

While Midco does not monitor customer webpage views or content of downloads, third parties may notify us of alleged copyright infringement. In those instances, information is gathered independently by copyright holders or their agents. We will pass on the complaint to our customers via email, the United States Postal Service and/or via web alert. Our main purpose is to ensure our customers are aware of alleged and potentially unknown copyright infringement activity and of potential consequences associated with such activity. This information was gathered independently by the copyright holder. Please note that Midco is not a party to complaints such as these. We do not release a customer’s identity to a copyright holder unless required to do so by a court order or a valid subpoena, issued by a court with jurisdiction over Midco. If we receive repeated copyright infringement notices for a customer over a period of time and after notifications have been sent to the customer, we may choose to take action up to and including throttling of service or disconnection of service, due to violation of our Acceptable Use Policy.

For more information, please view our Copyright Infringement Policy

Complaints and Questions

Complaints and questions concerning this disclosure, the company’s services and the company’s policies can be sent to the company in these ways:

Options for resolving complaints or disputes and questions from end users are reflected Midco’s policies, terms, and conditions posted at Midco.com/Legal. Inquiries should be directed to the specified contacts in those legal documents.