SES Broadband Fair Use Policy

The Fair Use Policy (FUP) system is a network management tool (controlled by SES Broadband) to monitor and administer network resources to ensure all our customers get a good service

It uses specific algorithms to identify disproportionate use (e.g very high volume consumption) of the SES Satellite Broadband Network’s resources. Such disproportionate use is gradually restricted by the Fair Use Policy, and a higher priority is assigned to end users with lower volume consumption.

Notably, the SES Broadband Fair Use Policy does NOT limit the total download and upload volume per customer terminal or end user.

As with all broadband services, the SES Broadband network’s capacity, which connects end users to the internet, is a shared medium. Therefore, in order to maintain the best possible Quality of Service, it is necessary that a Fair Use Policy is maintained, especially during peak usage hours. Peak usage hours in a broadband network are typically defined by a very high usage of network resources.

The SES Broadband Fair Use Policy ensures that – during these peak hours – the service cannot be used disproportionately by only a few “heavy” users

1. Within the Fair Use Policy the maximum download speed per end user is decreased from a maximum value down to a minimum value in accordance to the end user’s individual monthly download volume consumption (see tables below). The maximum upload data rate per end user follows a similar principle (but with an independent process). The maximum speed limitations for upload and download – as defined on our website for each respective tariff – are set for each SES end user terminal.
2. In case of non-peak time usage (i.e. typically during the night and morning hours) higher data rates may be provided per connected end user than stated in the following Fair use Policy tables (see “Congestion Factor (CF) (examples) and related speed” in the following tables where the CF < 1). However these data rates will not exceed the maximum data rate of the respective Service Package (i.e. maximum data rate in Step A of the respective Service Package).
3. In case of peak time usage (i.e. typically during late afternoon until late evening), connected end users may experience lower data rates than stated in the following Fair Use Policy tables (see “Congestion Factor (CF) (examples) and related speed” in the following tables where CF > 1). This is caused by network loading during this period of the day.

The consumed volume (MB) per end user (download and upload) will be re-set every 4 weeks, i.e. the maximum data rate given in Step A (see tables hereafter) is applicable after every (monthly) volume re-set.

FUP Reset option: Its important for customers to note that on all the data limited (all products apart from the SES Pro unlimited) tariffs, the customer has the option to reset (refill) their data allowance to their standard monthly allowance for the payment of a one off fee equivalent to 50% (half) of their monthly airtime payment. This means that once you select a tariff, if in one particular month you need to download or upload more data than your standard allowance, you can do so at full broadband speeds for a small extra charge.

The above chart illustrates why a Fair Use Policy is needed in order to deliver a consistent Quality of Service to all end users all of the time: it shows that around 10% of end users (the red line) are heavy users, who – without a Fair Use Policy in place – would consume 50% of all system resources, heavily affecting the quality of service for all other end users. The Fair Use Policy (the green line) reshapes the consumption profile towards a linear distribution (the black line) ensuring that more end users have access to system resources.

The chart above gives an indicative illustration how the usage can vary by time of day and by day of the week. In this example the peak usage occurs mainly between 5 pm to 10 pm during week days and between 10 am to 10 pm during weekends (i.e. high congestion). The Fair Use Policy ensures that system resources are available to all end users in a fair and equitable manner during these periods.

SSW and SES have the right to adapt (decrease) the maximum data rate (speed limitations) for specific end users, who use the SES Broadband too extensively and who would otherwise reduce the overall service performance for all connected end users. This adaptation is gradual and is based on volume thresholds/limitations given in this paragraph. This adaptation is required in order to improve and optimize the overall service performance for the majority of the registered end users.

Furthermore SSW and SES will manage the overall upload and download traffic also in relation to its nature and may therefore reduce the bandwidth for certain kind of traffic (e.g. so called peer-to-peer applications) during peak time in order to prevent an overall congestion of SES Broadband.

Fair Use Policy for SES Broadband Pro unlimited tariff

The above shown Congestion Factor (CF) is a measure for the load of the network service and varies heavily during the day. During the day the CF typically reaches values of about 2 – 4, sometimes – for a short period of time – even up to 6 or higher. During the night and early morning hours the CF typically reaches values of about 0.1 – 0.5. To a great extent the CF is driven by the network usage pattern of all registered end users. The CF also applies to the upload data rate.

Fair Use Policy for tariffs with a monthly data allowance

SES Broadband ‘S’- Allowance 3GB VOLUME limited per month

SES Broadband ‘M’- Allowance 5GB VOLUME limited per month

SES Broadband ‘L’- Allowance 10GB VOLUME limited per month

SES Broadband ‘XL’- Allowance 20GB VOLUME limited per month

SES Broadband ‘Pro 30′- Allowance 30GB VOLUME limited per month

SES Broadband ‘Pro 50′- Allowance 50GB VOLUME limited per month

The Congestion Factor (CF) outlined above is a measure of the load of the network service and continually varies during the day. During the day the CF typically reaches values of about 2 – 4, sometimes – for a very short period of time – even up to 6 or higher. During the night and early morning hours the CF typically reaches values of about 0.1 – 0.5. To a great extent the CF is driven by the network usage pattern of all registered end users. The CF also applies to the upload data rate.