Union Communications billing policy:

Union Communications bills by the calendar month and prorates the monthly charges. Billing occurs on the first business day of the month for the monthly plan charge. Monthly plan rates do not include applicable taxes and regulatory fees.

Union Communications payment methods:

1. Enroll in Direct Pay. You can authorize your financial institution to deduct the amount of your monthly telephone bill from your checking account.

2. Pay by check. Use the return envelope provided with your monthly invoice and enclose a check made out for the total amount due.

3. In person. Visit our office at 7 Central Street, Monday thru Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm or you may use the secure mail slot before/after hours.

4. By Phone: Union Communications accepts MasterCard and Visa.

Please note that disconnection is an automatic process for all customers with a past due balance greater than $25.00. There will be a $20.00 telephone line reconnection fee as well as a $25.00 DSL reconnection fee to re-establish disconnected lines.

What does DSL stand for?
Digital Subscriber Line. DSL is a modem technology that transforms ordinary phone lines (also known as "twisted copper pairs") into high-speed digital lines for ultra-fast Internet access. DSL also enables access to corporate networks for telecommuters.

Do I get free email with my DSL?
Residential accounts are supplied with 1 main e-mail account and 2 sub-accounts. Additional accounts are available at a monthly charge of $3.00 per account.

How does DSL work?
DSL modems use digital coding techniques to squeeze up to 99% more capacity out of a phone line without interfering with your regular phone services. That means you could be simultaneously talking on the phone or sending a fax - while surfing the World Wide Web.

How can DSL benefit me?
Residential customers need cost-effective solutions to high-speed Internet access to make use of the expanding high bandwidth and interactive multimedia applications such as multiplayer gaming, video on demand and video catalogs.

How does DSL compare to cable modems?
DSL provides a dedicated service over a single telephone line; cable modems offer a dedicated service over a shared media. While cable modems have greater downstream bandwidth capabilities, that bandwidth is shared among all users on a line, and will therefore vary, perhaps dramatically, as more users in a neighborhood get online at the same time. Cable modem upstream traffic will in many cases be slower than DSL, either because the particular cable modem is slower, or because of rate reductions caused by increased upstream bandwidth use. The big difference between DSL and cable modems, however, is the number of lines available to each. There are no more than 12 million homes passed today that can support two-way cable modem transmissions, and while the figure also grows steadily, it will not catch up with telephone lines for many years. Additionally, many of the older cable networks are not capable of offering a return channel; consequently, such networks will need significant upgrading before they can offer high bandwidth services.

What would I need to use it at my home?
A DSL modem will be installed at your location by a technician. This modem will need to be connected to your PC's Ethernet Card. If you do not have an Ethernet Card in your PC then Union Communications will install one for FREE. Some Ethernet Cards may not be compatible with DSL so if you purchase your own, Union Communications accepts no responsibility to provide technical support for any incompatibility issues.

What are the system requirements for DSL?
The recommended system requirements are as follows:
For PCs:
One of the following operating systems: Windows 95/98; Windows NT 4.0 Workstation or Server with Service Pack 5 or 6a (128 bit encryption); Windows 2000 Professional. Intel Pentium/Pentium Pro/Pentium MMX/Pentium II/Pentium III (166 MHz or higher), AMD K5/K6, or Cyrix 586/686 processor 32MB RAM (64MB strongly recommended) Ethernet card

For Macintosh:
PowerPC processor MacOS 7.5.5 through MacOS 9.0 32MB RAM (64MB strongly recommended) Ethernet card. An Ethernet card is already built into all iMac, G3 Power Mac, and G3 PowerBook computers.

How long will it take to get hooked up on DSL?
The first step is to check if the service is available at your home and takes up to 1 business day for verification. If service is available, it can be installed in approx. 1-3 additional working days.

With the increased speed (bandwidth) DSL offers, can it be shared among two or more PCs, so that both can be connected to the internet at the same time?
Yes. The modem has one Ethernet port and with the cable that is provided you can plug into a hub, (a device used to allow connectivity to multiple PC's). Each PC would need an Ethernet Card and cable plugged into the hub in order to utilize the DSL circuit simultaneously.

If I am on the phone, will that decrease my bandwidth when downloading?
Voice communications over POTS (plain old telephone service) operates at frequencies below 4KHz; DSL will use the frequencies above that. So, whether you are using the POTS frequencies or not, the bandwidth available to DSL is not affected.

I have heard of problems with security. How secure is it?
The DSL implementation that we are offering provides you with a DSL modem that has encrypted password protection, hosts your Internet use IP address (broadcast on the Internet) and provides your computer with an IP address that is both non-routable (not broadcast on the Internet) and private, therefore masking you from intrusion.

Will I ever get a busy signal?
No! Once the circuit is installed and the modem is powered up then the service is there every time you power up your PC or access content on the Internet.

Technical Support: DSL tech support is available 9:00am - 8:00pm Monday thru Friday and 10:00am - 4:00pm on Saturday, at 603.859.3200. You may also e-mail us at support@worldpath.net and we will reply on our next business day.

Business office hours: Monday thru Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm.

We are located at 7 Central Street, Farmington, NH, 03835. You may also e-mail us at customersfirst@utel.com and we will reply on our next business day.