As at 16 November 2020
The following Terms apply to our business customers who have a Spark business broadband product or service with us, and which is delivered over ADSL, VDSL or Fibre technologies (in other words, internet at your business premises) (the "Business Broadband Service(s)" or the "Business Broadband Product(s)"). If your Spark Business broadband service is delivered over Spark’s wireless network, please refer to the Wireless Business Broadband Technology Terms.
These Terms apply together with the Business General Terms, which also apply when you have a Business Broadband Service from us (Business Broadband being a Service for the purpose of those Terms). These Terms will prevail to the extent that they are inconsistent with the Business General Terms.
These terms and conditions are for business broadband plans only. Different terms and conditions will apply if you have a managed business internet service.
Terms and conditions for Spark's residential and basic and consumer broadband plans can be found here.
The Business Broadband Services are described in:
Together these make up the "Service Description" for Business Broadband Services. Links to the pages on our website which set out more detail about the features, prices and other matters about our Business Broadband Services are here. Prices for the various Business Broadband Services and packages are also shown on the broadband web pages on our website.
You agree at the time you accept these terms and conditions, that you will be bound by your Local Fibre Company's (LFC) End User Terms, which relate to the provision (including installation) and use of that part of the LFC's network which is located on your premises. We will advise you who your LFC is at the time of placing your order for Spark Business Fibre Broadband.
1. Getting Set Up
2. Moving Plans
3. Minimum Contract Term
4. Changing, withholding, suspending, restricting, replacing or terminating service
5. Our disclaimers relating to Business Broadband
6. Changing these terms
7. Other Important Information
8. Equipment
9. Service Reliability
10. Support
11. Department of Internal Affairs Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System
12. No retention of data
To use Business Broadband Services, you must have a Spark broadband account. If you are a new Spark broadband customer, you will need a standard broadband connection to use the Business Broadband Service and in some cases you will be required to get broadband wiring to use the Business Broadband Service. You will be advised of any connection charges that apply before you agree to use the Business Broadband Service. For current information on business broadband connection pricing please visit our website.
Business Broadband, including the different technologies, ADSL, VDSL and Fibre®, are not available in all areas. Occasionally factors like the distance of equipment from a particular site or address mean we are unable to deliver Business Broadband, even when Business Broadband is available in your area.
New ADSL & VDSL Business Broadband connections may opt for Connection Only, where Spark will connect your line remotely and you or your IT adviser installs the broadband modem.
If you are using five or more telephone jackpoints at your office, or you have an alarm that is capable of being monitored, you will need to select the Connection and Wiring option. A technician will visit your premises and install a splitter, to get broadband working on your telephone line. You will be advised of any charges associated with this connection option before you agree to the installation.
Details on the installation options for Fibre are set out in the respective product terms.
Other points to note:
To make the most of Business Broadband services and support, you will need a compatible broadband modem. A Business Broadband modem is available from Spark. If you signed up to your Business Broadband service before 16 November 2020, or you are signing up to Business Broadband ADSL or VDSL, the modem is provided at no extra cost as part of the standard Business Broadband service. However, you will need to agree to a minimum term contract (see clause 3 below).
If you sign up to a Business Broadband Fibre service from 16 November 2020, you will be on an open term but you will need to purchase a Business Broadband modem from Spark, or supply your own compatible broadband modem. If you supply your own broadband modem, it must meet minimum specifications to enable you to receive the full benefit of your Business Broadband service. Refer to clause 8 below.
The Gateway Kit contains a Quick Installation Guide to assist you to setup and configure your Business Broadband gateway to your computer(s). Further information on the Gateway modem is available. We may offer additional setup services via our installers. This service may not be available for all broadband technologies and charges apply.
If you want Business Broadband transferred to a new telephone line you will have to pay for connection and in some cases wiring and installation. You will be advised of the charges that apply to your specific installation prior to the commencement of any installation work.
As a Spark customer, you won't receive a separate account - Business Broadband will appear as part of your monthly Spark bill. Business Broadband usage charges are recorded in the 'rental and activity' section of your Spark account. Charges will include:
Moving plans within the same product line
You can make one Business Broadband plan change per calendar month, within the same product line. The move to a different Business Broadband plan can take up to two working days to complete. If you do change plans, you will also see some 'part-monthly' charges on your next bill: a part-monthly credit for the plan you cancelled and a part-monthly charge for the plan you moved to.
If you are in contract and switch to a different Business Broadband plan on the same technology, the contract end date will remain the same after the switch. If you switch from a Business Broadband contract plan to an open term plan, an early termination fee may apply.
Moving plans not within the same product line
If you switch to a Business Broadband plan that is on a different technology, an early termination fee may apply if you're still within your minimum term contract period.
Business Broadband ADSL, Business Broadband VDSL and Business Broadband Fibre are different product lines. A change between product lines is considered a plan change and installation fees may apply; and early termination fees may also apply if you have not completed the minimum term of your contract. You may also need to purchase a new broadband modem if your existing broadband modem is not compatible with your new Business Broadband service’s technology. You will be advised of any applicable installation fees prior to you incurring them. If an early termination fee applies you will have been advised of the fee at the time of joining Business Broadband and if you have forgotten what the fee is you can contact us and we will advise you. Any changes between broadband product lines are subject to usual availability limitations. This means that we are unable to guarantee that Business Broadband will be available in a particular area or at a specific location and what the service quality will be like until Business Broadband has been connected.
If you exceed your monthly data usage limit for any particular month, you will be charged for each excess gigabyte (or part thereof) you use, in addition to your standard monthly charges for your particular Business Broadband plan. View broadband charges for additional usage.
A 24 month minimum term applies to all new Business Broadband ADSL and VDSL connections. If your Business Broadband account is closed before the end of the 24 month period, you will have to pay an early termination fee.
If you sign up to your Business Broadband Fibre from 16 November 2020, no minimum term applies. However, you will need to supply your own Business Broadband modem or purchase one from Spark. If you supply your own broadband modem, it must meet minimum specifications to enable you to receive the full benefit of your Business Broadband service. For further information, see clause 8 below.
There are certain things that despite our best efforts, we cannot guarantee or provide in relation to our Business Broadband Service. In some cases it may be unavoidable for us to change, withhold, suspend, restrict, replace or terminate any of our Business Broadband Services where, for example, systems or the network are being maintained or otherwise worked on, unavailable or must be protected, to manage network traffic or access to network services (for example, to manage peer to peer traffic types), to improve functionality and attributes of the Business Broadband Services, or for any other reason we think is reasonably necessary or desirable to do so.
Where we have changed or replaced an existing Business Broadband Service, and we have to do this without providing you with prior notice of the change in order to protect our network, we will advise of the changes and the impact on you immediately following the change. If acting reasonably you consider that the change has a negative impact on your use of the Business Broadband Services you can exercise your right to terminate these Terms. You acknowledge that we reserve the right to suspend, sign out, disconnect, terminate, or delete your broadband accounts (including sub accounts) or any communication session for any particular Business Broadband Service that is "inactive" for a period of time. "Inactive" means that you have not used a particular Business Broadband Service or your broadband account for a period of time, as determined by us, when acting reasonably.
The configuration of your computer, device, systems server or other communication equipment ("Systems") you use to receive our Business Broadband Services may affect, not only your use of our Business Broadband Services, but our provision of it. For example, certain SMTP service configurations leave you vulnerable to relaying spam; spam may overload our systems.
Our Business Broadband Services will only be delivered to your relevant Systems when you have the required connection to receive the Broadband Service and will be subject to any service availability limitations and any functionality limitations of your Systems.
Spark does not and cannot in any way supervise, edit or control the way in which you or other end users use the content, information or other material accessed through the Business Broadband Services we provide to you.
You acknowledge and agree that Spark will not be held responsible in any way for the content, information or other material accessed or provided by means of our Business Broadband Services. You are responsible for all content, information or other material that you upload, download, post, email, or otherwise transmit, access or make available through the use of our Business Broadband Services.
Spark has not reviewed all or any of the sites linked to the Business Broadband Services and is not responsible for the content of any of those sites.
The Business Broadband Services are delivered to you using other providers' infrastructure and systems, for example, that of Chorus. We are not liable or responsible for anything which occurs as a result of other providers' infrastructure and systems.
We have not checked the accuracy or completeness of the information or the suitability or quality of the products and services of the third parties. You must make your own inquiries with the relevant third party supplier directly before relying on the third party information or entering into a transaction in relation to third party products and services supplied by means of our Business Broadband Services. You should check with the third party supplier whether there are additional charges and terms which may apply.
We may change these Terms by changing or removing existing terms or by adding new ones at any time. Changes may take the form of completely new Terms. We will tell you about any changes by emailing or writing to you or SMS messaging you. We will tell you about changes to these Terms at least one month before they come into effect. If acting reasonably you consider that the change has a negative impact on your use of the Business Broadband Services you can exercise your right to terminate these Terms.
Spark broadband, provided over ADSL, VDSL or Fibre access technologies, is not available in all areas. Broadband speeds can vary for a number of reasons none the least the access technology you choose. Factors which impact on speed can include: how close your premises is to an exchange, your computer's capability, and your premises’ wiring and, where applicable, your devices’ WiFi capability and WiFi interference at your site. The day-to-day performance will also be affected by traffic congestion, the websites you visit and the applications you download. For more information on how broadband speeds vary visit www.spark.co.nz/speed.
Data usage is based on the amount of data transferred through your Spark broadband connection (both uploading and downloading), this can include overhead data usage which is required for establishing and maintaining the connection. Any unused portion of your monthly data allowance will not accumulate from billing period to billing period and will not be refunded.
The Spark broadband usage meter is available for you to check on your gigabyte usage. The usage meter does not show your usage in real time. It is updated approximately every hour and, under normal conditions, will accurately reflect usage up to 2 hours earlier. However, in some circumstances, such as when there are large numbers of users on the internet, it can sometimes take longer for your usage meter to be updated, particularly at the end of your billing month. It is important that you take this into account when tracking your usage. You can check your usage at www.spark.co.nz/usagemeter. From this site, you can also set up alerts to advise you when you are close to or have exceeded your monthly data allowance.
Usage alerts are designed to help you keep tabs on your data usage, but ultimately it is your responsibility to monitor how much data you have used. Some viruses can lead to unexpected use of data and this in turn can use up your monthly data allowance. This unwanted usage could lead to you reaching your monthly data allowance faster than you thought. You are entirely responsible for all data usage that occurs under your account, whether or not the usage is caused by a virus. Remember it is your responsibility to make sure you have sufficient security to meet your needs.
It is important to remember that you will need to manage your security and access to your Business Broadband Gateway (modem) as you are responsible for all data usage charges on your Spark Broadband Account no matter who incurs the excess usage charges. See the Quick Start Guide, included in the Business Broadband Gateway Kit, for tips on how to improve the security of your Gateway and WiFi connection.
Business Broadband can only be used on a computer that meets certain minimum system requirements; your computer equipment can impact the broadband speeds you experience. For more information on minimum computer requirements, see minimum system requirements.
Windows XP/ Vista/ 7 or higher
Mac O/S version 9.0 or better
1GHz or faster processor
Ethernet port or Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
Web browser
Spark recommends that Business Broadband be delivered over a Spark supplied Business Broadband modem. The Business Broadband helpdesk does not provide support for equipment other than the Spark provided Business Broadband modem.
Our undertaking to you is that any Spark provided Business Broadband modem will operate in accordance with the published specifications and that at our option we will within a reasonable time, either provide repair, replacement (provide you with an equivalent modem) or adjusted services without charge to you to rectify any defect in material or workmanship in any Spark provided Business Broadband modem, or pay for the cost of replacing or repairing it, or acquiring an equivalent modem.
However, we will not have any obligation to repair, replace or adjust any Business Broadband modems where:
Spark is unable to provide specific performance guarantees, however we are committed to providing a consistent and reliable service.
While we always strive to provide a consistent service, there are a number of factors that influence reliability. For this reason, we do not guarantee connection speed bandwidth, latency (delay) or bit rate through our broadband network at any one point in time.
As the Business Broadband Service can occasionally go down, we do not recommend it is relied on solely for 'mission critical' purposes. We cannot guarantee how quickly we can resolve problems with the network.
Business Broadband is not designed to support guaranteed service levels and may not be appropriate for applications which rely on guaranteed speed and latency characteristics, e.g.
To find out about managed broadband connections, with guaranteed service levels, call 126 or your Spark account manager.
The stability and performance of your Business Broadband Service can be affected by a number of potential faults. A fault can commonly originate from our network, your modem/gateway or your computer. If the service is not meeting your expectations, our Customer Support team are trained to help you identify where the potential fault lies.
Occasionally network outages do occur. When they do, we record a message about the fault which you can hear when you call 0800 BUSINESS (28 74 63). There is no charge for fixing faults during our normal business hours except where you, or anyone you are responsible for, cause the fault or if the fault lies with your own equipment (e.g. your computer).
If a Spark-approved service technician does visit your premises and finds that there are no problems with the network, you will be required to pay the cost of the service technician being sent out. We will let you know in advance what the potential charges to you could be.
If you are still having problems with Business Broadband, call us on 0800 BUSINESS (28 74 63)
For customers with other ISPs you should contact your ISP directly.
We will intercept communications for the purposes of the Department of Internal Affairs' Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System and in continuing to use your Spark Broadband Service, you acknowledge and consent to this.
The amount of email and data storage available to you on systems to provide you with Business Broadband Services is limited and some email or data may not be processed due to space restraints.
You agree that it may be reasonably necessary for us to establish limits concerning use of any Business Broadband Services including, without limitation, the maximum number of days that material will be retained, the maximum amount and size of material that may be sent from or received by an account in connection with any Business Broadband Services, the maximum disk space that will be allotted on servers on your behalf, either cumulatively or for any particular Business Broadband Service, such as for storing graphics or documents, and the maximum number of times and duration you may access any servers in a given period of time. Where we change or introduce new limits we will give you as much warning as we reasonably can. If you do not agree to the limits you may exercise your right to terminate these Terms. If we and/or our partners or suppliers acting reasonably believe these space restraints or limits are, or will be, compromised, and in order to protect our network or that of our partners or suppliers and the use of the Business Broadband Services for our customers then we and/or our partners or suppliers may delete any electronic mail message, information or data in any other form (together "material"), sent by you or addressed to you.
If any material is deleted and we are able to identify that you are the sender of the material or the intended recipient we will notify you as soon as we reasonably can. However, you acknowledge that in some cases we may not be able to identify individually impacted customers and in those instances we are not required to notify you or the sender of that deleted material. You agree that Spark has no responsibility or liability for the deletion, corruption or failure to store any information, material or other content maintained or transmitted in connection with any of our Business Broadband Services. You acknowledge that the features, parameters (for example, the amount of storage available to you) or existence of any Business Broadband Services may change at any time.
As at 16 November 2020
The following Terms apply to our business customers who have a Spark business broadband product or service with us, and which is delivered over ADSL, VDSL or Fibre technologies (in other words, internet at your business premises) (the "Business Broadband Service(s)" or the "Business Broadband Product(s)"). If your Spark Business broadband service is delivered over Spark’s wireless network, please refer to the Wireless Business Broadband Technology Terms.
These Terms apply together with the Business General Terms, which also apply when you have a Business Broadband Service from us (Business Broadband being a Service for the purpose of those Terms). These Terms will prevail to the extent that they are inconsistent with the Business General Terms.
These terms and conditions are for business broadband plans only. Different terms and conditions will apply if you have a managed business internet service.
Terms and conditions for Spark's residential and basic and consumer broadband plans can be found here.
The Business Broadband Services are described in:
Together these make up the "Service Description" for Business Broadband Services. Links to the pages on our website which set out more detail about the features, prices and other matters about our Business Broadband Services are here. Prices for the various Business Broadband Services and packages are also shown on the broadband web pages on our website.
You agree at the time you accept these terms and conditions, that you will be bound by your Local Fibre Company's (LFC) End User Terms, which relate to the provision (including installation) and use of that part of the LFC's network which is located on your premises. We will advise you who your LFC is at the time of placing your order for Spark Business Fibre Broadband.
1. Getting Set Up
2. Moving Plans
3. Minimum Contract Term
4. Changing, withholding, suspending, restricting, replacing or terminating service
5. Our disclaimers relating to Business Broadband
6. Changing these terms
7. Other Important Information
8. Equipment
9. Service Reliability
10. Support
11. Department of Internal Affairs Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System
12. No retention of data
To use Business Broadband Services, you must have a Spark broadband account. If you are a new Spark broadband customer, you will need a standard broadband connection to use the Business Broadband Service and in some cases you will be required to get broadband wiring to use the Business Broadband Service. You will be advised of any connection charges that apply before you agree to use the Business Broadband Service. For current information on business broadband connection pricing please visit our website.
Business Broadband, including the different technologies, ADSL, VDSL and Fibre®, are not available in all areas. Occasionally factors like the distance of equipment from a particular site or address mean we are unable to deliver Business Broadband, even when Business Broadband is available in your area.
New ADSL & VDSL Business Broadband connections may opt for Connection Only, where Spark will connect your line remotely and you or your IT adviser installs the broadband modem.
If you are using five or more telephone jackpoints at your office, or you have an alarm that is capable of being monitored, you will need to select the Connection and Wiring option. A technician will visit your premises and install a splitter, to get broadband working on your telephone line. You will be advised of any charges associated with this connection option before you agree to the installation.
Details on the installation options for Fibre are set out in the respective product terms.
Other points to note:
To make the most of Business Broadband services and support, you will need a compatible broadband modem. A Business Broadband modem is available from Spark. If you signed up to your Business Broadband service before 16 November 2020, or you are signing up to Business Broadband ADSL or VDSL, the modem is provided at no extra cost as part of the standard Business Broadband service. However, you will need to agree to a minimum term contract (see clause 3 below).
If you sign up to a Business Broadband Fibre service from 16 November 2020, you will be on an open term but you will need to purchase a Business Broadband modem from Spark, or supply your own compatible broadband modem. If you supply your own broadband modem, it must meet minimum specifications to enable you to receive the full benefit of your Business Broadband service. Refer to clause 8 below.
The Gateway Kit contains a Quick Installation Guide to assist you to setup and configure your Business Broadband gateway to your computer(s). Further information on the Gateway modem is available. We may offer additional setup services via our installers. This service may not be available for all broadband technologies and charges apply.
If you want Business Broadband transferred to a new telephone line you will have to pay for connection and in some cases wiring and installation. You will be advised of the charges that apply to your specific installation prior to the commencement of any installation work.
As a Spark customer, you won't receive a separate account - Business Broadband will appear as part of your monthly Spark bill. Business Broadband usage charges are recorded in the 'rental and activity' section of your Spark account. Charges will include:
Moving plans within the same product line
You can make one Business Broadband plan change per calendar month, within the same product line. The move to a different Business Broadband plan can take up to two working days to complete. If you do change plans, you will also see some 'part-monthly' charges on your next bill: a part-monthly credit for the plan you cancelled and a part-monthly charge for the plan you moved to.
If you are in contract and switch to a different Business Broadband plan on the same technology, the contract end date will remain the same after the switch. If you switch from a Business Broadband contract plan to an open term plan, an early termination fee may apply.
Moving plans not within the same product line
If you switch to a Business Broadband plan that is on a different technology, an early termination fee may apply if you're still within your minimum term contract period.
Business Broadband ADSL, Business Broadband VDSL and Business Broadband Fibre are different product lines. A change between product lines is considered a plan change and installation fees may apply; and early termination fees may also apply if you have not completed the minimum term of your contract. You may also need to purchase a new broadband modem if your existing broadband modem is not compatible with your new Business Broadband service’s technology. You will be advised of any applicable installation fees prior to you incurring them. If an early termination fee applies you will have been advised of the fee at the time of joining Business Broadband and if you have forgotten what the fee is you can contact us and we will advise you. Any changes between broadband product lines are subject to usual availability limitations. This means that we are unable to guarantee that Business Broadband will be available in a particular area or at a specific location and what the service quality will be like until Business Broadband has been connected.
If you exceed your monthly data usage limit for any particular month, you will be charged for each excess gigabyte (or part thereof) you use, in addition to your standard monthly charges for your particular Business Broadband plan. View broadband charges for additional usage.
A 24 month minimum term applies to all new Business Broadband ADSL and VDSL connections. If your Business Broadband account is closed before the end of the 24 month period, you will have to pay an early termination fee.
If you sign up to your Business Broadband Fibre from 16 November 2020, no minimum term applies. However, you will need to supply your own Business Broadband modem or purchase one from Spark. If you supply your own broadband modem, it must meet minimum specifications to enable you to receive the full benefit of your Business Broadband service. For further information, see clause 8 below.
There are certain things that despite our best efforts, we cannot guarantee or provide in relation to our Business Broadband Service. In some cases it may be unavoidable for us to change, withhold, suspend, restrict, replace or terminate any of our Business Broadband Services where, for example, systems or the network are being maintained or otherwise worked on, unavailable or must be protected, to manage network traffic or access to network services (for example, to manage peer to peer traffic types), to improve functionality and attributes of the Business Broadband Services, or for any other reason we think is reasonably necessary or desirable to do so.
Where we have changed or replaced an existing Business Broadband Service, and we have to do this without providing you with prior notice of the change in order to protect our network, we will advise of the changes and the impact on you immediately following the change. If acting reasonably you consider that the change has a negative impact on your use of the Business Broadband Services you can exercise your right to terminate these Terms. You acknowledge that we reserve the right to suspend, sign out, disconnect, terminate, or delete your broadband accounts (including sub accounts) or any communication session for any particular Business Broadband Service that is "inactive" for a period of time. "Inactive" means that you have not used a particular Business Broadband Service or your broadband account for a period of time, as determined by us, when acting reasonably.
The configuration of your computer, device, systems server or other communication equipment ("Systems") you use to receive our Business Broadband Services may affect, not only your use of our Business Broadband Services, but our provision of it. For example, certain SMTP service configurations leave you vulnerable to relaying spam; spam may overload our systems.
Our Business Broadband Services will only be delivered to your relevant Systems when you have the required connection to receive the Broadband Service and will be subject to any service availability limitations and any functionality limitations of your Systems.
Spark does not and cannot in any way supervise, edit or control the way in which you or other end users use the content, information or other material accessed through the Business Broadband Services we provide to you.
You acknowledge and agree that Spark will not be held responsible in any way for the content, information or other material accessed or provided by means of our Business Broadband Services. You are responsible for all content, information or other material that you upload, download, post, email, or otherwise transmit, access or make available through the use of our Business Broadband Services.
Spark has not reviewed all or any of the sites linked to the Business Broadband Services and is not responsible for the content of any of those sites.
The Business Broadband Services are delivered to you using other providers' infrastructure and systems, for example, that of Chorus. We are not liable or responsible for anything which occurs as a result of other providers' infrastructure and systems.
We have not checked the accuracy or completeness of the information or the suitability or quality of the products and services of the third parties. You must make your own inquiries with the relevant third party supplier directly before relying on the third party information or entering into a transaction in relation to third party products and services supplied by means of our Business Broadband Services. You should check with the third party supplier whether there are additional charges and terms which may apply.
We may change these Terms by changing or removing existing terms or by adding new ones at any time. Changes may take the form of completely new Terms. We will tell you about any changes by emailing or writing to you or SMS messaging you. We will tell you about changes to these Terms at least one month before they come into effect. If acting reasonably you consider that the change has a negative impact on your use of the Business Broadband Services you can exercise your right to terminate these Terms.
Spark broadband, provided over ADSL, VDSL or Fibre access technologies, is not available in all areas. Broadband speeds can vary for a number of reasons none the least the access technology you choose. Factors which impact on speed can include: how close your premises is to an exchange, your computer's capability, and your premises’ wiring and, where applicable, your devices’ WiFi capability and WiFi interference at your site. The day-to-day performance will also be affected by traffic congestion, the websites you visit and the applications you download. For more information on how broadband speeds vary visit www.spark.co.nz/speed.
Data usage is based on the amount of data transferred through your Spark broadband connection (both uploading and downloading), this can include overhead data usage which is required for establishing and maintaining the connection. Any unused portion of your monthly data allowance will not accumulate from billing period to billing period and will not be refunded.
The Spark broadband usage meter is available for you to check on your gigabyte usage. The usage meter does not show your usage in real time. It is updated approximately every hour and, under normal conditions, will accurately reflect usage up to 2 hours earlier. However, in some circumstances, such as when there are large numbers of users on the internet, it can sometimes take longer for your usage meter to be updated, particularly at the end of your billing month. It is important that you take this into account when tracking your usage. You can check your usage at www.spark.co.nz/usagemeter. From this site, you can also set up alerts to advise you when you are close to or have exceeded your monthly data allowance.
Usage alerts are designed to help you keep tabs on your data usage, but ultimately it is your responsibility to monitor how much data you have used. Some viruses can lead to unexpected use of data and this in turn can use up your monthly data allowance. This unwanted usage could lead to you reaching your monthly data allowance faster than you thought. You are entirely responsible for all data usage that occurs under your account, whether or not the usage is caused by a virus. Remember it is your responsibility to make sure you have sufficient security to meet your needs.
It is important to remember that you will need to manage your security and access to your Business Broadband Gateway (modem) as you are responsible for all data usage charges on your Spark Broadband Account no matter who incurs the excess usage charges. See the Quick Start Guide, included in the Business Broadband Gateway Kit, for tips on how to improve the security of your Gateway and WiFi connection.
Business Broadband can only be used on a computer that meets certain minimum system requirements; your computer equipment can impact the broadband speeds you experience. For more information on minimum computer requirements, see minimum system requirements.
Windows XP/ Vista/ 7 or higher
Mac O/S version 9.0 or better
1GHz or faster processor
Ethernet port or Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
Web browser
Spark recommends that Business Broadband be delivered over a Spark supplied Business Broadband modem. The Business Broadband helpdesk does not provide support for equipment other than the Spark provided Business Broadband modem.
Our undertaking to you is that any Spark provided Business Broadband modem will operate in accordance with the published specifications and that at our option we will within a reasonable time, either provide repair, replacement (provide you with an equivalent modem) or adjusted services without charge to you to rectify any defect in material or workmanship in any Spark provided Business Broadband modem, or pay for the cost of replacing or repairing it, or acquiring an equivalent modem.
However, we will not have any obligation to repair, replace or adjust any Business Broadband modems where:
Spark is unable to provide specific performance guarantees, however we are committed to providing a consistent and reliable service.
While we always strive to provide a consistent service, there are a number of factors that influence reliability. For this reason, we do not guarantee connection speed bandwidth, latency (delay) or bit rate through our broadband network at any one point in time.
As the Business Broadband Service can occasionally go down, we do not recommend it is relied on solely for 'mission critical' purposes. We cannot guarantee how quickly we can resolve problems with the network.
Business Broadband is not designed to support guaranteed service levels and may not be appropriate for applications which rely on guaranteed speed and latency characteristics, e.g.
To find out about managed broadband connections, with guaranteed service levels, call 126 or your Spark account manager.
The stability and performance of your Business Broadband Service can be affected by a number of potential faults. A fault can commonly originate from our network, your modem/gateway or your computer. If the service is not meeting your expectations, our Customer Support team are trained to help you identify where the potential fault lies.
Occasionally network outages do occur. When they do, we record a message about the fault which you can hear when you call 0800 BUSINESS (28 74 63). There is no charge for fixing faults during our normal business hours except where you, or anyone you are responsible for, cause the fault or if the fault lies with your own equipment (e.g. your computer).
If a Spark-approved service technician does visit your premises and finds that there are no problems with the network, you will be required to pay the cost of the service technician being sent out. We will let you know in advance what the potential charges to you could be.
If you are still having problems with Business Broadband, call us on 0800 BUSINESS (28 74 63)
For customers with other ISPs you should contact your ISP directly.
We will intercept communications for the purposes of the Department of Internal Affairs' Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System and in continuing to use your Spark Broadband Service, you acknowledge and consent to this.
The amount of email and data storage available to you on systems to provide you with Business Broadband Services is limited and some email or data may not be processed due to space restraints.
You agree that it may be reasonably necessary for us to establish limits concerning use of any Business Broadband Services including, without limitation, the maximum number of days that material will be retained, the maximum amount and size of material that may be sent from or received by an account in connection with any Business Broadband Services, the maximum disk space that will be allotted on servers on your behalf, either cumulatively or for any particular Business Broadband Service, such as for storing graphics or documents, and the maximum number of times and duration you may access any servers in a given period of time. Where we change or introduce new limits we will give you as much warning as we reasonably can. If you do not agree to the limits you may exercise your right to terminate these Terms. If we and/or our partners or suppliers acting reasonably believe these space restraints or limits are, or will be, compromised, and in order to protect our network or that of our partners or suppliers and the use of the Business Broadband Services for our customers then we and/or our partners or suppliers may delete any electronic mail message, information or data in any other form (together "material"), sent by you or addressed to you.
If any material is deleted and we are able to identify that you are the sender of the material or the intended recipient we will notify you as soon as we reasonably can. However, you acknowledge that in some cases we may not be able to identify individually impacted customers and in those instances we are not required to notify you or the sender of that deleted material. You agree that Spark has no responsibility or liability for the deletion, corruption or failure to store any information, material or other content maintained or transmitted in connection with any of our Business Broadband Services. You acknowledge that the features, parameters (for example, the amount of storage available to you) or existence of any Business Broadband Services may change at any time.
As at 16 November 2020
The following Terms apply to our business customers who have a Spark business broadband product or service with us, and which is delivered over ADSL, VDSL or Fibre technologies (in other words, internet at your business premises) (the "Business Broadband Service(s)" or the "Business Broadband Product(s)"). If your Spark Business broadband service is delivered over Spark’s wireless network, please refer to the Wireless Business Broadband Technology Terms.
These Terms apply together with the Business General Terms, which also apply when you have a Business Broadband Service from us (Business Broadband being a Service for the purpose of those Terms). These Terms will prevail to the extent that they are inconsistent with the Business General Terms.
These terms and conditions are for business broadband plans only. Different terms and conditions will apply if you have a managed business internet service.
Terms and conditions for Spark's residential and basic and consumer broadband plans can be found here.
The Business Broadband Services are described in:
Together these make up the "Service Description" for Business Broadband Services. Links to the pages on our website which set out more detail about the features, prices and other matters about our Business Broadband Services are here. Prices for the various Business Broadband Services and packages are also shown on the broadband web pages on our website.
You agree at the time you accept these terms and conditions, that you will be bound by your Local Fibre Company's (LFC) End User Terms, which relate to the provision (including installation) and use of that part of the LFC's network which is located on your premises. We will advise you who your LFC is at the time of placing your order for Spark Business Fibre Broadband.
1. Getting Set Up
2. Moving Plans
3. Minimum Contract Term
4. Changing, withholding, suspending, restricting, replacing or terminating service
5. Our disclaimers relating to Business Broadband
6. Changing these terms
7. Other Important Information
8. Equipment
9. Service Reliability
10. Support
11. Department of Internal Affairs Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System
12. No retention of data
To use Business Broadband Services, you must have a Spark broadband account. If you are a new Spark broadband customer, you will need a standard broadband connection to use the Business Broadband Service and in some cases you will be required to get broadband wiring to use the Business Broadband Service. You will be advised of any connection charges that apply before you agree to use the Business Broadband Service. For current information on business broadband connection pricing please visit our website.
Business Broadband, including the different technologies, ADSL, VDSL and Fibre®, are not available in all areas. Occasionally factors like the distance of equipment from a particular site or address mean we are unable to deliver Business Broadband, even when Business Broadband is available in your area.
New ADSL & VDSL Business Broadband connections may opt for Connection Only, where Spark will connect your line remotely and you or your IT adviser installs the broadband modem.
If you are using five or more telephone jackpoints at your office, or you have an alarm that is capable of being monitored, you will need to select the Connection and Wiring option. A technician will visit your premises and install a splitter, to get broadband working on your telephone line. You will be advised of any charges associated with this connection option before you agree to the installation.
Details on the installation options for Fibre are set out in the respective product terms.
Other points to note:
To make the most of Business Broadband services and support, you will need a compatible broadband modem. A Business Broadband modem is available from Spark. If you signed up to your Business Broadband service before 16 November 2020, or you are signing up to Business Broadband ADSL or VDSL, the modem is provided at no extra cost as part of the standard Business Broadband service. However, you will need to agree to a minimum term contract (see clause 3 below).
If you sign up to a Business Broadband Fibre service from 16 November 2020, you will be on an open term but you will need to purchase a Business Broadband modem from Spark, or supply your own compatible broadband modem. If you supply your own broadband modem, it must meet minimum specifications to enable you to receive the full benefit of your Business Broadband service. Refer to clause 8 below.
The Gateway Kit contains a Quick Installation Guide to assist you to setup and configure your Business Broadband gateway to your computer(s). Further information on the Gateway modem is available. We may offer additional setup services via our installers. This service may not be available for all broadband technologies and charges apply.
If you want Business Broadband transferred to a new telephone line you will have to pay for connection and in some cases wiring and installation. You will be advised of the charges that apply to your specific installation prior to the commencement of any installation work.
As a Spark customer, you won't receive a separate account - Business Broadband will appear as part of your monthly Spark bill. Business Broadband usage charges are recorded in the 'rental and activity' section of your Spark account. Charges will include:
Moving plans within the same product line
You can make one Business Broadband plan change per calendar month, within the same product line. The move to a different Business Broadband plan can take up to two working days to complete. If you do change plans, you will also see some 'part-monthly' charges on your next bill: a part-monthly credit for the plan you cancelled and a part-monthly charge for the plan you moved to.
If you are in contract and switch to a different Business Broadband plan on the same technology, the contract end date will remain the same after the switch. If you switch from a Business Broadband contract plan to an open term plan, an early termination fee may apply.
Moving plans not within the same product line
If you switch to a Business Broadband plan that is on a different technology, an early termination fee may apply if you're still within your minimum term contract period.
Business Broadband ADSL, Business Broadband VDSL and Business Broadband Fibre are different product lines. A change between product lines is considered a plan change and installation fees may apply; and early termination fees may also apply if you have not completed the minimum term of your contract. You may also need to purchase a new broadband modem if your existing broadband modem is not compatible with your new Business Broadband service’s technology. You will be advised of any applicable installation fees prior to you incurring them. If an early termination fee applies you will have been advised of the fee at the time of joining Business Broadband and if you have forgotten what the fee is you can contact us and we will advise you. Any changes between broadband product lines are subject to usual availability limitations. This means that we are unable to guarantee that Business Broadband will be available in a particular area or at a specific location and what the service quality will be like until Business Broadband has been connected.
If you exceed your monthly data usage limit for any particular month, you will be charged for each excess gigabyte (or part thereof) you use, in addition to your standard monthly charges for your particular Business Broadband plan. View broadband charges for additional usage.
A 24 month minimum term applies to all new Business Broadband ADSL and VDSL connections. If your Business Broadband account is closed before the end of the 24 month period, you will have to pay an early termination fee.
If you sign up to your Business Broadband Fibre from 16 November 2020, no minimum term applies. However, you will need to supply your own Business Broadband modem or purchase one from Spark. If you supply your own broadband modem, it must meet minimum specifications to enable you to receive the full benefit of your Business Broadband service. For further information, see clause 8 below.
There are certain things that despite our best efforts, we cannot guarantee or provide in relation to our Business Broadband Service. In some cases it may be unavoidable for us to change, withhold, suspend, restrict, replace or terminate any of our Business Broadband Services where, for example, systems or the network are being maintained or otherwise worked on, unavailable or must be protected, to manage network traffic or access to network services (for example, to manage peer to peer traffic types), to improve functionality and attributes of the Business Broadband Services, or for any other reason we think is reasonably necessary or desirable to do so.
Where we have changed or replaced an existing Business Broadband Service, and we have to do this without providing you with prior notice of the change in order to protect our network, we will advise of the changes and the impact on you immediately following the change. If acting reasonably you consider that the change has a negative impact on your use of the Business Broadband Services you can exercise your right to terminate these Terms. You acknowledge that we reserve the right to suspend, sign out, disconnect, terminate, or delete your broadband accounts (including sub accounts) or any communication session for any particular Business Broadband Service that is "inactive" for a period of time. "Inactive" means that you have not used a particular Business Broadband Service or your broadband account for a period of time, as determined by us, when acting reasonably.
The configuration of your computer, device, systems server or other communication equipment ("Systems") you use to receive our Business Broadband Services may affect, not only your use of our Business Broadband Services, but our provision of it. For example, certain SMTP service configurations leave you vulnerable to relaying spam; spam may overload our systems.
Our Business Broadband Services will only be delivered to your relevant Systems when you have the required connection to receive the Broadband Service and will be subject to any service availability limitations and any functionality limitations of your Systems.
Spark does not and cannot in any way supervise, edit or control the way in which you or other end users use the content, information or other material accessed through the Business Broadband Services we provide to you.
You acknowledge and agree that Spark will not be held responsible in any way for the content, information or other material accessed or provided by means of our Business Broadband Services. You are responsible for all content, information or other material that you upload, download, post, email, or otherwise transmit, access or make available through the use of our Business Broadband Services.
Spark has not reviewed all or any of the sites linked to the Business Broadband Services and is not responsible for the content of any of those sites.
The Business Broadband Services are delivered to you using other providers' infrastructure and systems, for example, that of Chorus. We are not liable or responsible for anything which occurs as a result of other providers' infrastructure and systems.
We have not checked the accuracy or completeness of the information or the suitability or quality of the products and services of the third parties. You must make your own inquiries with the relevant third party supplier directly before relying on the third party information or entering into a transaction in relation to third party products and services supplied by means of our Business Broadband Services. You should check with the third party supplier whether there are additional charges and terms which may apply.
We may change these Terms by changing or removing existing terms or by adding new ones at any time. Changes may take the form of completely new Terms. We will tell you about any changes by emailing or writing to you or SMS messaging you. We will tell you about changes to these Terms at least one month before they come into effect. If acting reasonably you consider that the change has a negative impact on your use of the Business Broadband Services you can exercise your right to terminate these Terms.
Spark broadband, provided over ADSL, VDSL or Fibre access technologies, is not available in all areas. Broadband speeds can vary for a number of reasons none the least the access technology you choose. Factors which impact on speed can include: how close your premises is to an exchange, your computer's capability, and your premises’ wiring and, where applicable, your devices’ WiFi capability and WiFi interference at your site. The day-to-day performance will also be affected by traffic congestion, the websites you visit and the applications you download. For more information on how broadband speeds vary visit www.spark.co.nz/speed.
Data usage is based on the amount of data transferred through your Spark broadband connection (both uploading and downloading), this can include overhead data usage which is required for establishing and maintaining the connection. Any unused portion of your monthly data allowance will not accumulate from billing period to billing period and will not be refunded.
The Spark broadband usage meter is available for you to check on your gigabyte usage. The usage meter does not show your usage in real time. It is updated approximately every hour and, under normal conditions, will accurately reflect usage up to 2 hours earlier. However, in some circumstances, such as when there are large numbers of users on the internet, it can sometimes take longer for your usage meter to be updated, particularly at the end of your billing month. It is important that you take this into account when tracking your usage. You can check your usage at www.spark.co.nz/usagemeter. From this site, you can also set up alerts to advise you when you are close to or have exceeded your monthly data allowance.
Usage alerts are designed to help you keep tabs on your data usage, but ultimately it is your responsibility to monitor how much data you have used. Some viruses can lead to unexpected use of data and this in turn can use up your monthly data allowance. This unwanted usage could lead to you reaching your monthly data allowance faster than you thought. You are entirely responsible for all data usage that occurs under your account, whether or not the usage is caused by a virus. Remember it is your responsibility to make sure you have sufficient security to meet your needs.
It is important to remember that you will need to manage your security and access to your Business Broadband Gateway (modem) as you are responsible for all data usage charges on your Spark Broadband Account no matter who incurs the excess usage charges. See the Quick Start Guide, included in the Business Broadband Gateway Kit, for tips on how to improve the security of your Gateway and WiFi connection.
Business Broadband can only be used on a computer that meets certain minimum system requirements; your computer equipment can impact the broadband speeds you experience. For more information on minimum computer requirements, see minimum system requirements.
Windows XP/ Vista/ 7 or higher
Mac O/S version 9.0 or better
1GHz or faster processor
Ethernet port or Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
Web browser
Spark recommends that Business Broadband be delivered over a Spark supplied Business Broadband modem. The Business Broadband helpdesk does not provide support for equipment other than the Spark provided Business Broadband modem.
Our undertaking to you is that any Spark provided Business Broadband modem will operate in accordance with the published specifications and that at our option we will within a reasonable time, either provide repair, replacement (provide you with an equivalent modem) or adjusted services without charge to you to rectify any defect in material or workmanship in any Spark provided Business Broadband modem, or pay for the cost of replacing or repairing it, or acquiring an equivalent modem.
However, we will not have any obligation to repair, replace or adjust any Business Broadband modems where:
Spark is unable to provide specific performance guarantees, however we are committed to providing a consistent and reliable service.
While we always strive to provide a consistent service, there are a number of factors that influence reliability. For this reason, we do not guarantee connection speed bandwidth, latency (delay) or bit rate through our broadband network at any one point in time.
As the Business Broadband Service can occasionally go down, we do not recommend it is relied on solely for 'mission critical' purposes. We cannot guarantee how quickly we can resolve problems with the network.
Business Broadband is not designed to support guaranteed service levels and may not be appropriate for applications which rely on guaranteed speed and latency characteristics, e.g.
To find out about managed broadband connections, with guaranteed service levels, call 126 or your Spark account manager.
The stability and performance of your Business Broadband Service can be affected by a number of potential faults. A fault can commonly originate from our network, your modem/gateway or your computer. If the service is not meeting your expectations, our Customer Support team are trained to help you identify where the potential fault lies.
Occasionally network outages do occur. When they do, we record a message about the fault which you can hear when you call 0800 BUSINESS (28 74 63). There is no charge for fixing faults during our normal business hours except where you, or anyone you are responsible for, cause the fault or if the fault lies with your own equipment (e.g. your computer).
If a Spark-approved service technician does visit your premises and finds that there are no problems with the network, you will be required to pay the cost of the service technician being sent out. We will let you know in advance what the potential charges to you could be.
If you are still having problems with Business Broadband, call us on 0800 BUSINESS (28 74 63)
For customers with other ISPs you should contact your ISP directly.
We will intercept communications for the purposes of the Department of Internal Affairs' Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System and in continuing to use your Spark Broadband Service, you acknowledge and consent to this.
The amount of email and data storage available to you on systems to provide you with Business Broadband Services is limited and some email or data may not be processed due to space restraints.
You agree that it may be reasonably necessary for us to establish limits concerning use of any Business Broadband Services including, without limitation, the maximum number of days that material will be retained, the maximum amount and size of material that may be sent from or received by an account in connection with any Business Broadband Services, the maximum disk space that will be allotted on servers on your behalf, either cumulatively or for any particular Business Broadband Service, such as for storing graphics or documents, and the maximum number of times and duration you may access any servers in a given period of time. Where we change or introduce new limits we will give you as much warning as we reasonably can. If you do not agree to the limits you may exercise your right to terminate these Terms. If we and/or our partners or suppliers acting reasonably believe these space restraints or limits are, or will be, compromised, and in order to protect our network or that of our partners or suppliers and the use of the Business Broadband Services for our customers then we and/or our partners or suppliers may delete any electronic mail message, information or data in any other form (together "material"), sent by you or addressed to you.
If any material is deleted and we are able to identify that you are the sender of the material or the intended recipient we will notify you as soon as we reasonably can. However, you acknowledge that in some cases we may not be able to identify individually impacted customers and in those instances we are not required to notify you or the sender of that deleted material. You agree that Spark has no responsibility or liability for the deletion, corruption or failure to store any information, material or other content maintained or transmitted in connection with any of our Business Broadband Services. You acknowledge that the features, parameters (for example, the amount of storage available to you) or existence of any Business Broadband Services may change at any time.