Fair Usage Policy

Broadband Fair Usage Policy Overview

Zuku Fiber residential triple-play service provides residential customers with three services – Television, Internet and Telephone services – over one fiber-optic cable connection at the most affordable fixed price per month paid via a single bill: Three services, One cable connection, One Bill.

Zuku Fiber residential fiber-optic cable Internet is one of the fastest in the market. It keeps you always-on, gives you unlimited internet access at a flat rate and to top it all, it is the most affordable option. Always on means that your device can remain connected to the internet at all times and there is no limit to the connection time for the duration of your subscription.

Choose from the following Internet options – 20Mbps, 50Mbps 100Mbps or 250Mbps. The bandwidth speed quoted in Tariff Guide and on your bill is the downstream local bandwidth between Zuku data centres located in Kenya and the Customer’s site. Unlike many broadband services, ZUKU FIBER’S LOCAL BANDWIDTH IS NOT SHARED OR CONTENDED. You are able to enjoy the maximum speeds at the quoted internet bandwidth to download content that is hosted at Zuku Fiber data centres and we do not limit the amount of data, or the speed at which you download any content between the Zuku Fiber data centres in Kenya and Customer’s Site. For example, if one person at the Customer’s Site is watching a YouTube video, it will stream down to that person at the maximum speed of your connection i.e. 20Mbps, 50Mbps, 100Mbps or 250Mbps (because YouTube is localized at Zuku Fiber data centres in Kenya). However, if 4 household members at the Customer’s Site watch different YouTube videos at the same time the speed gets distributed between the users and each will get 5Mbps, 12.5Mbps, 25Mbps and 62.5Mbps respectively for subscriptions of 20Mbps, 50Mbps, 100Mbps or 250Mbps Internet access component of Zuku Fiber triple-play service. So if you have more members sharing the same internet connection, you get a better experience with a higher the Internet speed.

As is the case with all internet services, users of Zuku Fiber share the available international bandwidth capacity that connects them to internet content located outside Kenya via the more expensive international fiber optic links. ZUKU FIBER INTERNATIONAL BANDWIDTH IS CONTENDED BY ALL USERS IN PROPORTION TO THE QUOTED LOCAL BANDWIDTH SPEED. The sharing of Zuku international bandwidth capacity is designed to deliver the best possible residential user experience and quality of service to all residential users in a fair and equitable manner.

The Fair Use Policy is a means to monitor and control Zuku Fiber international bandwidth capacity to give all users fair access to the available capacity. The Fair Use Policy ensures that this international bandwidth capacity is not used disproportionately by some and others are penalized on their account. Zuku Fiber operates a Fair Use Policy, for users who have downloaded an excessive volume of international data in course one day’s use, which can limit the connection speed – during heavy peak hours – in order to ensure that others who have not downloaded their fair share of international data on that day are not affected.

By innovative engineering of both local bandwidth and international bandwidth, Zuku Fiber service is designed to provide a good quality international web surfing and download experience with adequately high speed. The Fair Use policy is meant to enhance the general user experience and control and moderate the use of international bandwidth by all customers. A smaller community of heavy-users of international content (e.g. videos, music downloads) should not affect the majority of normal users’ right to high-speed access to international content. In order to give preference to general international internet surfing during peak usage hours the Zuku Fiber Fair Use Policy limits the international bandwidth used by the heavy downloading only during this period.

Zuku Fiber Fair Use Policy system is a tool to monitor and control our international bandwidth capacity with the intention of giving all customers fair access to the international bandwidth capacity: it limits the speed for heavy international downloading during peak usage hours. It DOES NOT limit the total international data volume, which an end user is able to download per day or per month using Zuku Fiber, and it DOES NOT limit or control the speed or data volume at which customers download all localized content.

How does it Work?

1. On working days the peak usage hours are mainly in the late mornings until early evening hours (e.g. from 11am to 10pm) and on weekends and holidays, it generally extends a little earlier in the morning to until midnight.
2. The Zuku Fiber Fair Use Policy system continuously monitors the consumed volumes per customer in Megabytes.
3. During peak usage hours the Fair Use Policy system reduces the speed for those customers who have already consumed large volumes (in Megabytes) during the respective day and month.
4. The more volume a customer has already downloaded during the day and month, the more his speed priority is decreased during peak usage hours.
5. During the remaining non-peaks hours of the day the customer’s speed priority usually has only limited impact on his access speed.
6. Every month on a set date, the volume account of all users is set to zero, i.e. the speed priority is reset.

Depending on your individual service package, you have a certain Fair Usage limit on your download volume. Users downloading an excessive amount of data within a month will instigate the “Fair Usage Policy” which is much better and cost effective compared to broadband service providers that impose a Limited Volume Policy, which stops your usage, or instigates expensive over usage metering after the Usage Volume Limit is reached. In Zuku Fiber’s Fair Usage Policy, there is no disconnection, but the connection speed is dropped to a lower level – once you cross the Fair Usage Limit.

During periods of peak use, when there is the greatest number of users of the system and high contention for international bandwidth capacity, the Fair Use Policy restricts the available connection speed of users identified as having made disproportionate use of international bandwidth capacity, in favour of other users who have not yet used their fair share.

Users with a disproportionate usage profile are identified by monitoring each user’s total download and upload volume throughout each month. At the start of each month, the monitored volume totals are reset to zero, and all users start with a ‘clean slate’ – an equal usage profile and equal access to the network.

The Fair Use Policy can restrict only the speed of access to international bandwidth; it does not limit the time connected to the internet through Zuku Fiber or the overall download/upload volume of any user. It does not limit at all the speed of accessing, or download/upload volume, of locally hosted content.

You can enjoy better local and international downloads speeds, better international bandwidth contention and better Fair Usage limits by subscribing to a higher package than your current subscription.

The table below will give a good idea on how to select the right package that best meets your needs in consideration of the Fair Use Policy.

Guidelines for Selection the Most Appropriate Package

The following table provides you with guidance on selecting the most appropriate Zuku Fiber Internet service package for your residential needs in consideration of our Fair Usage Policy.

The table below shows indicative typical uses (Average Download Times) for each of the broadband packages and a recommendation based on the number of users or devices in a single household.

1. Download of music and movies may require permission from the Copyright owner.
2. These are estimated averages over multiple downloads over a given time period. Actual performance may vary depending on the speed of the target site and if the subscribers’ speed has been reduced due to the fair use policy.
3. Excludes streaming from YouTube whose performance is satisfactory for videos with many views.