Important information about BTnet leased lines

Who does what

A BTnet service involves two organisations, each with its own role:

Your contract for BTnet is made up of BT's General Terms, the BTnet Service Schedule and your order. The version referenced in your order is the one that applies; BT publishes its current terms on its Connectivity Services terms page. This website is run by Forever Communications and is a general guide to BTnet.

Minimum Term, notice and termination

These points come from BT's current BTnet Service Schedule:

See BTnet contract terms for a plain-words guide to the contract as a whole.

Before the service goes live

• Survey. All services and pricing are subject to a site survey, which BT arranges after the order.
• Cancellation charges. If you cancel an order, or part of it, before the service goes live, BT's terms set cancellation charges per bearer, by the type and size of the bearer rather than the port speed. On resilient services with two bearers, they apply to each bearer, including the secondary line, plus amounts based on the regular charges. Once the primary line's bearer has been delivered, the secondary line cannot be cancelled on its own.
• Excess construction charges. Where the survey finds extra engineering is needed, the ECC limit in your order applies, and anything above it, or any ECC where no limit was set, goes ahead only if you accept a new quote. BT invoices only the ECC actually incurred. If you agreed ECC and then cancel, you pay the cost of additional work already specifically incurred. See excess construction charges.
• If a site cannot be served. If BT proposes after survey that the service cannot be provided at a site for operational reasons and you agree, BT cancels the order for that site with no cancellation charges.
• Site access. If the customer causes an unreasonable delay during installation, including not giving access within five Business Days of BT asking, BT can charge as if the service had been installed from the scheduled date. BT may also charge for an abortive visit in the circumstances its terms set out.
• Acceptance tests. You have five Business Days after BT's notice to carry out acceptance tests; if you do not tell BT otherwise in that time, the service is treated as accepted.

Charges, invoicing and changes

Your quote and order set out the charges for your service. BT's terms add:

• Invoicing starts from the date the service goes live, whether or not other services that depend on BTnet, such as a new phone system, are ready.
• Additional charges can apply for Service Introduction Charges, commissioning or decommissioning outside Business Hours, expediting delivery at your request after BT has given you the delivery date, investigating a reported incident where BT finds no incident or finds it is outside BT's service management boundary, restoring a suspended service, and anything else agreed in writing.
• Bandwidth Flex is chargeable, works within the limits of your bearer and runs for at least five Business Days before another request. A flex beyond what BT's equipment can carry needs new equipment and starts a new Minimum Term. See Bandwidth Flex.
• Moves are subject to survey. An internal move has a time-related charge; services delivered over GEA over FTTP are always treated as external moves. An external move starts a new Minimum Term at the new site, with no early termination charges if the first 12 months have passed, the new annual rental is the same or higher and the new term is at least the time left. Otherwise termination charges apply, plus a charge equal to the original bearer's standard Service Introduction Charge. See moving office with a BTnet leased line.
• Provider Independent Resources carry registration fees and registry duties. See static IP addresses on BTnet.

Service levels: conditions and exclusions

BT's service levels for availability, on-time delivery and latency are explained on the BTnet SLA page. Under BT's terms:

• BT uses reasonable endeavours to meet the service levels, which apply within BT's service management boundary. Credits are based on the monthly recurring charges for the site.
• Report a qualifying incident to BT's Service Desk within two days, using BT's reporting procedures.
• Claim availability and latency credits within 28 days of BT verifying the incident, and on-time delivery credits within 28 days of the Customer Committed Date. A claim not made this way is treated as waived for that month, and only BT's own measurements are used.
• Valid credits are deducted from your invoice within two billing cycles. Disputes about credits on an invoice are raised in writing within two months of the invoice date.
• A missed service level is not, in itself, a material breach of the contract.
• The availability service level excludes Wi-Fi. BT tests the service over an Ethernet cable and does not test wireless.

Equipment, IP addresses, security and Wi-Fi

• BT's equipment remains BT's property, with risk passing to you on delivery. BT's terms ask you to keep it safe and secure, not to move or alter it without BT's written consent (moves are at the customer's cost), to insure it for its full replacement value, and to return it when the service ends.
• IP addresses provided by BT remain BT's (or its suppliers') and cannot be transferred; the right to use them ends with the service, unless they are registered in your name.
• Security. BT's terms say BT does not guarantee the security of the service against unauthorised or unlawful access or use. You are responsible for user names and passwords used with the service and BT's equipment.
• Wi-Fi and guest Wi-Fi. If you enable them on BT's managed equipment, you are responsible for passwords, for the increased risk of leaving a network open, for misuse that breaks BT's acceptable use policy, and for testing the wireless. With BTnet Security, your security policy should be active on both networks.
• Cleanfeed filtering is applied as standard; you can opt out by written notice to BT.
• Throughput in speed tests and applications is typically 5-10% below the port speed because of network and IP overheads, as BT's terms explain.
• Planned maintenance. BT tells you as soon as it reasonably can if planned maintenance or changes need to restrict or suspend the service.

Questions before you order

We go through your quote, the order and the parts of BT's terms that apply to your service before you sign, so everything is clear. If you have a question about any point on this page, contact us.