TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Washington/Baltimore Cellular Limited Partnership, d/b/a/ Cellular One-Washington/Baltimore, (“Cellular One”) provides cellular service on the terms and conditions specified herein and at rates and changes established from time to time. Every use of the term “you” or “your” in these terms and conditions of service refers to the person or entity who is the customer of record.
1. AVAILABILITY OF LIMITED SERVICE – Service is generally available to cellular mobile radio units (cellular telephones) equipped for this service and when within the range of cell sites located in the service area. Service is furnished for you or your authorized user. Orders, including those which involve the start, change or discontinuance of service, will be accepted by Cellular One only from you or your authorized agent. You have no property right in the telephone number. Cellular One reserves the right to assign, designate, or change such number, when, in its sole opinion, such assignment, designation or change is reasonably necessary in the conduct of its business. A telephone number may not appear in more than one cellular mobile radio unit without the consent of Cellular One.
2. SERVICE COMMITMENT – The length of your service commitment is dependent upon the rate plan selected. Once your initial term of service is completed, your contract will automatically renew on a month-to-month basis. You may agree to extend or enter into an additional service commitment beyond the initial Service Commitment by entering into an Equipment Upgrade Agreement, Rate Plan change or some other similar agreement. The terms of these executed agreements will supersede the terms on your existing Contract(s).
3. DEPOSITS – At any time, Cellular One may require you to make a suitable deposit or additional deposit to be held by Cellular One, and you hereby grant Cellular One a security interest in such deposit, to secure the payment of all sums due hereunder and on other account(s) for which you are responsible for payment, as well as the performance of all other obligations you may have to Cellular One, whether now existing or hereafter arising. Interest may accrue on cash deposit at rates established by Cellular One or, if required, at the rate required by state law for the period during which it is held by Cellular One. Upon termination of service, or time to time, Cellular One may apply your deposit and any interest accrued thereon against the outstanding amounts due hereunder, or against the outstanding amounts due, on any other account(s) for which you are responsible for payment, or against any other amounts you owe Cellular One.
4. CHARGES AND PAYMENTS – You will receive monthly bills which are due and must be paid in full on the due date shown on the bill. You are responsible to pay Cellular One for all charges assessed to your mobile number. These charges include the following- (1) a monthly subscription fee, that is based on the service plan that you have selected (billed a bill cycle in advance); (2) airtime usage, which is based on the applicable rate plan; (3) per call or per minute charges, including, but not limited to, network surcharges or any other network-related charges and costs; and (4) other charges including, but not limited to, directory assistance, toll charges, charges incurred on other cellular systems (roamer charges), roaming administrative charges, collect calls and third party billed calls to your mobile number, applicable taxes, assessments, fees and optional feature charges. Please note that the network surcharge compensates Cellular One for transporting calls throughout our network and connecting the caller to other carriers’ networks. These costs include, but are not limited to, connections by landline, fiber cable, microwave towers, cell sites, copper cable, switching equipment (or center), routing and other miscellaneous elements. Airtime and other measured usage is billed in full minute increments and actual airtime and usage are rounded up to the next full minute increment at the end of each call for billing purposes, ie. Cellular One charges a full minute of airtime usage for every fraction of the last minute of airtime used on each wireless call. Also, please note that roaming rates charged by other cellular carriers may be re-rated by Cellular One (either increased or discounted). CELLULAR ONE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE ANY AND ALL OF ITS CHARGES WITHOUT ADVANCE NOTICE TO YOU.
You accept responsibility for outgoing and incoming calls to and from your cellular telephone. Chargeable time for calls originated or received by a cellular telephone, begins when a signal connection is established to the carrier facilities (channel seizure) and ends when the cellular telephone signals call disconnect (channel disconnect) at the carrier’s facilities and the call disconnect signal has been confirmed. Chargeable time may include time for the cellular system to recognize that only one party has disconnected from the call, and may also include time to clear the channels in use (“Connected Call”). These charges are assessed based upon connection to the carrier facilities, regardless of whether the call is completed. There is a minimum charge for each Connected Call. You are responsible to notify Cellular One in writing of any disputed charges within sixty (60) days of the date of the initial charge or manner of charge. If you do not notify Cellular One within that time period in the manner stated, you have waived your right to dispute those amounts or procedures in question.
Cellular One reserves the right during the term of this Contract, without advance noticed to you, to charge for new or different services introduced, to change available rate plans and their terms, conditions and charges, to change peak/off peak periods, and to discontinue offering certain rate plans. If the rate plan to which you subscribe is discontinued, Cellular One may assign your service to a comparable available rate plan effective as of the date of discontinuance. You may, during the thirty (30) day period following the date of discontinuance, request a change to any other available rate plan for which you qualify. The Companion Rate Plan is contingent upon the original customer maintaining a rate plan with a monthly access fee of $17.00 or higher. If the original customer’s rate plan is canceled for any reason, the Companion Rate Plan will convert to the Peace of Mind Value Plan with a higher monthly access fee for the remainder of the contract term.
5. TAXES- The price of the service does not include sales, use, excise, ad valorem, gross receipts, property, 911, Universal Service, or any other tax or fees now or hereafter imposed, directly or indirectly, by any governmental authority or agency with respect to the Service. Customer shall pay such taxes or fees directly or reimburse Cellular One, for any such taxes or fees which Cellular One may be required to collect or pay immediately upon invoicing of any such taxes or fees.
6. NON-PAYMENT/BREACH – To the extent permitted by law, interest on past due amount of the lesser of 1 1/2 % per month, or the maximum rate permitted by law may be applied to each of your service bills not paid by the due date. The interest on past due amount is applied to the total unpaid amount carried forward to a subsequent bill. For customers of Maryland and the District of Columbia: a late payment fee of $2.50 per bill will be applied to your account if payment is not received by the due date. For Virginia customers: a late payment fee of 5%, not to exceed $2.50 per bill, will be applied to your account if payment is not received by the due date. A charge will be made by Cellular One for any check or other negotiable instrument tendered by you and returned unpaid by a financial institution for any reason; and Cellular One may demand payment by money order, cashier’s check or similarly secure form of payment, at Cellular One’s discretion. To the extent permitted by state and federal law, you shall pay to Cellular One all costs and expenses, including without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, the fees of any collection agency, and court costs incurred by Cellular One in exercising any of its rights or remedies hereunder when enforcing any of the terms, conditions or provisions hereof.
7. CREDIT INFORMATION – You consent to Cellular One’s disclosure of account information to or from credit reporting agencies, credit bureaus, private credit reporting associations, or to or from other providers of communications service at any time during your service with Cellular One. You authorize Cellular One to obtain credit reports in connection with the offering of cellular service and from time to time in connection with the service provided under this Agreement and to verify with any person the accuracy of any information contained in your application and in any update, renewal or extension thereof. The information obtained as a result of those credit inquiries may be used in the future to offer other services and promotions.
8. TERMINATION OF SERVICE – You may terminate service at the end of a Service Commitment by notifying Cellular One in writing of your intention to terminate during the thirty days prior to the end of your Service Commitment. Any termination by you of this Contract prior to the completion of a Service Commitment, will be considered a material breach of this Contract. If you breach this Contract, you agree to pay Cellular One for its losses related to your breach. You understand and agree that Cellular One’s damages arising out of your breach will be difficult if not impossible to determine. Therefore if you materially breach this Contract by terminating your service prior to the end of a Service Commitment, you agree to pay early termination charges as liquidated damages in the amount set out in your Cellular service contract and as described in paragraph 2 herein.
Cellular One may terminate your service for non-payment of any sum due Cellular One hereunder, or non-payment of any amount due Cellular One on other cellular account(s) for which you are responsible for payment, or for non-payment for any service, repairs or equipment furnished in connection with your cellular phone, or upon violation of any of the conditions of this Contract, including fraud. Subject to any applicable regulation, Cellular One may by notice to you, without incurring any liability, either temporarily discontinue your service, or terminate your service and this Contract. Cellular One may also terminate service in the event of your insolvency, receivership, voluntary or involuntary bankruptcy, assignment for the benefit of creditors or sale of substantially all of your assets.
Service may also be refused or discontinued without notice in the event that: 1) service is used in a manner that will adversely affect Cellular One service or is otherwise in violation of any Federal Communications Commission Rules or Regulations or state, federal or local laws; 2) services are not available from the network provider or its successors; 3) your credit information provided to Cellular One is inaccurate; 4) Cellular One becomes aware of facts indicating that your credit standing has deteriorated or 5) fraud appears to Cellular One to be occurring in relation to your service, or 6) Cellular One is no longer authorized to provide cellular service in the service area. Cellular One reserves the right to require a deposit for continuation of service, if Cellular One deems such advisable. In the event your services are interrupted, a restoral charge may be applicable.
9. CELLULAR EQUIPMENT – TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CELLULAR ONE DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES FOR MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Unless provided otherwise in another agreement, Cellular One is not responsible for the installation, operation, quality of transmission or maintenance of your cellular telephone. If your equipment is stolen, you are responsible for all cellular service charges until the theft is reported to Cellular One by calling the customer service number at 1-800-GETCEL1 and evidence of the theft (i.e., police report) is provided to Cellular One. In the event of non-payment of charges, the cellular radio system may be programmed to refuse service to the equipment on which delinquent charges were incurred until payment in full is made. You agree to advise any prospective purchaser of the equipment of any such charges outstanding.
10. CELLULAR ONE LIMITATION AND CONDITIONS OF LIABILITY; INDEMNITY – Service may be temporarily interrupted, delayed or otherwise limited due to: 1) transmission limitations caused by atmospheric and other conditions; 2) the availability of radio frequency channels; 3) system capacity limitations; 4) coordination with adjacent cellular companies; 5) equipment modifications, upgrades, relocations, failures, repairs and/or similar activities; and 6) negligence of Cellular One. Cellular One therefore assumes no duty to provide uninterrupted service to you or your authorized user. Cellular One shall have no liability and no credits shall be given for any of the above referenced conditions arising out of interruptions, delays or failures in transmission as well as; 1) your negligent or willful act; 2) the failure of equipment or services not provided through Cellular One facilities; 3) the failure of services not provided by Cellular One; or 4) acts of God, fire, riots, Government authorities or other causes beyond the control of Cellular One.
You agree that the liability to you of Cellular One, if any, for interruptions, delays, and failures in transmission of services (service problems), whether caused by the negligence of Cellular One or otherwise, is hereby limited to the allowance of a credit for no more than the charges billed by Cellular One to you for cellular service for the period during which the service problem occurred, except that no credit shall be given for recurring monthly charges, if any, for a service problem of less than 24 hours duration. No credit shall exceed the cellular service charges billed for the period during which the service problem occurred. Cellular One has the right to require that credits be in writing and to deny any request for credit for an alleged service problem where the evidence of such problem is inconclusive, or the request is otherwise, unwarranted or insufficient.
Except as provided above, you hereby agree that Cellular One shall not be liable for, and you shall indemnify and hold harmless Cellular One from any and all claims and damages, of every kind, including damages to your vehicle, personal injury and specifically special or consequential damages, arising out of the use of any service and/or equipment provided under this Contract, as well as any damages arising out of or attributed directly or indirectly, to service problems or use of the cellular service and/or equipment by you and any third party. You understand that, for an additional fee, speakerphone equipment is available from numerous sources. This service enables you to use your cellular telephone without holding the receiver, thereby allowing you to use both hands while operating your motor vehicle.
11. EMERGENCY 911 SERVICE – Cellular One shall not be liable for any failures or delays in connection with the provision of 911 service where available.
12. CALLS TO AREAS OUTSIDE CELLULAR SYSTEM AREA – Unless connected through an interexchange carrier, service for calls from within the subscribed cellular system area to locations outside the subscribed cellular system area (i.e., long distance calls) may be provided by Cellular One, and, if provided, will be pursuant to applicable charges. If Cellular One undertakes to connect you to an interexchange carrier of your choice and your phone is inadvertently connected to a different carrier, Cellular One’s liability is limited to connecting you to your chosen carrier at the earliest opportunity after you notify Cellular One. In addition, if such choice is by presubscription, which Cellular One may, but is not required to provide and which Cellular One may cease to offer at any time without advance notice, then the obligation to connect you to the carrier will only be applicable if the participating carrier participates in and continues to participate in such presubscription. You are responsible for payment of interexchange carrier charges for any calls connected through another carrier, whether by presubscription or otherwise.
13. GOVERNING LAW – Your cellular service Contract shall be governed by the laws of the State of Maryland and applicable tariffs, if any.