Premise Work Charges
The charges for repair and/or installation work in your home are based on the length of time required to complete the request. altafiber bills a one-hour charge for the first 60 minutes or any portion thereof. Billable time begins as follows:
- Repair: The clock starts once we have isolated the trouble to be within your residence
- Installation: The clock starts once we have gained access to your premises
Please refer to Wiring Options (in this section) for alternatives.
Initial Charges
Anytime you order a new or different service from us, the work you don't see is frequently the biggest part of the job. These initial charges include such things as assigning you a telephone number or identifying a pair of wires you'll use and connecting them to the telephone network. These one-time charges do not include the monthly fee.
Billing of One-Time Charges
You have the option of having the one-time charges billed on one bill or spreading the charges over a three-month period.
Telephone Network
- If you have a problem with your telephone service and the problem is in the altafiber telephone network, we will fix it at no charge. It is important that you make sure the problem is not your telephone, wiring, jacks or other equipment. If we are required to make a visit and find the problem is in your equipment or caused by your wiring or jacks, charges may apply.
Inside Telephone Wire
- altafiber is responsible for the telephone wiring up to your home. You are responsible for the repair of the telephone inside wiring (i.e., wiring, jacks and equipment) past the network interface device (NID). If you rent your home or apartment, the building owner may be responsible for the telephone wiring and jacks. altafiber will not enter a customer's premises or complete an installation or repair unless someone is on the premises while we are performing the work.
Wiring Options
- altafiber offers installation and repair service for a fee. Call 513-566-4101 for more information .
- Purchase and install or repair your own wiring and accessories
- Hire a private contractor to complete the work for you. Any applicable charges are between you and the contractor
WireCare
altafiber's WireCare protection plan was developed to protect you from potentially costly repairs to customer-owned wiring and jacks in your home and small business. If something goes wrong with your telephone wire or jacks, we will make the necessary repairs at no additional cost.*
WireCare is available to residents of altafiber's service area for $8.50 per month. To order WireCare for your home or office call 513-566-4101 (residential) or 513-566-5050 (business).
*WireCare does not cover the cost to rebury cable and does not apply to boats, boat docks and marinas. Wirecare does not cover the installation of battery backup, nor does it cover the replacement of the actual battery for battery backup. altafiber also reserves the right not to cover any inside wire installed by a non-altafiber entity that is not in accordance with Part 68 of the FCC Rules and Regulations and the National Electric Code. If you rent your home or apartment, the building owner may be responsible for the telephone wiring and jacks. Check with your landlord before requesting repair service.
Equipment Repair
Customer-premise equipment (CPE) is all of the equipment on your side of the demarcation point. It includes all equipment and associated accessories that you may use to access the phone network.
Equipment from another supplier:
You should return your equipment to the supplier, contact the manufacturer or the manufacturers' local service representative, or follow the directions provided with the equipment for securing maintenance.
Business Equipment Maintained By altafiber:
If your equipment is covered under an on-site maintenance program, call Repair Service for assistance. Depending on whether your equipment is still under warranty or covered under an optional maintenance plan, charges may or may not apply.
How To Tell Where The Problem Is
PROBLEM:
One phone doesn't work; all others do.
ACTION:
Plug it into another location where a phone is working (your home or neighbors).
- If the phone works, then the problem is probably your inside wiring. See Inside Telephone Wire above
- If the phone does not work, the problem is probably your telephone equipment. See Equipment Repair above
PROBLEM:
No phones work. (Have you paid your phone bill?)
ACTION:
Many homes and condominiums have a network interface device (NID)* located where the phone lines come into the building (usually in the garage or basement or outside on the side of the building). If you live in a mobile home, the NID is usually located outside on a post or pole on the side of the mobile home. If you live in an apartment, the NID is usually located at the primary telephone outlet (usually the kitchen wall phone). Check each phone by plugging it into this jack.
- If your telephone(s) works properly, the problem is probably inside wiring. See Inside Telephone Wire above
- If the problem persists, then the problem is probably outside wiring. See Telephone Network above
NOTE: Some homes do not have the network interface device (NID), and some phones are directly wired and can't be unplugged. In that case, your problem could be with equipment, inside wiring or outside wiring. Call Repair Service at 513-480-9433 for assistance.
* A NID creates a defined point of demarcation between the telephone network and inside wire. When utilized properly, the NID will assist you in determining if service difficulties exist in the inside wire or outside network. If you do not have a NID, you may hire altafiber to install one, do it yourself, or hire an outside contractor to install one for you. (If you do not choose to have altafiber install the NID, altafiber will not be responsible for its proper installation and maintenance.) If there is not a NID in place, and you cannot ascertain that the service difficulty is located on your side of the demarcation point, altafiber will come out at no charge to diagnose the problem and install a NID at no charge during the visit. Charges will apply if a NID is present upon altafiber's arrival.
Financial Assistance
Residence customers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana may qualify for one of altafiber's Telephone Assistance Plans. These programs provide discounts on the customer access line charge and/or the one-time installation charge for the access line. Your Service Representative can provide more information about these programs and will help you determine if you qualify; call 513-566-4101 for assistance.
A Deposit May Be Required
We may require that you establish financial responsibility prior to providing you with the telephone service. You may do so in any one of five ways:
- You are a homeowner or own real estate within our service territory.
- The company may require an applicant to satisfactorily establish financial responsibility by means, which may be quickly and inexpensively checked by the company. In determining whether the applicant is a financially responsible person, the company may request from the applicant and shall consider information including, but not limited to, the following: name and place of employment, position held, length of service, letters of reference and substantive credit cards.
- You have been a customer of a telephone company within the past two years, provided that your service was not disconnected for nonpayment of a bill within the past year and you were not past due on a bill more than twice during the past year, and provided that the monthly bill for your old service was at least half of the bill for the new service. To meet this requirement, you must also demonstrate that your financial responsibility is not otherwise impaired.
- You can furnish a reasonably safe guarantor to secure payment for bills for 60 days of service.
- You pay a deposit, not to exceed 230% of the amount estimated to be the monthly charge for regulated services provided by us plus long-distance charges provided by other companies but billed by us. We will return the deposit to you plus 6% interest per year when your service is terminated, provided you don't still owe altafiber money. We must also return the deposit to you plus interest if you pay your bill for twelve consecutive months without having service disconnected for nonpayment and without having been late more than twice, and if you are then current in the payment of bills.
Service Disconnection
You can arrange to disconnect your residence service by calling our Residence Office during business hours at 513-566-4101. There is no charge for service disconnection.
Consumer Information
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