We try to make all our policies as clear, fair, and readable as possible, with some mild humour thrown in.

If you plan on being an Atomic customer, please familiarise yourself with these documents. They will help you understand what is included and excluded in our services, manage your expectations and avoid unnecessary fees.

Relevant links

• Octotel SLA
• Frogfoot SLA
• Vumatel SLA
• Openserve SLA
• Our Privacy Policy
• Our Scope of Service
• Support channels and process
• Contact details

Key terms

• SLA – Service Level Agreement
• FNO – Fibre Network Operator e.g. Octotel
• ISP – Internet Service Provider e.g. Atomic
• AUP – Acceptable Use Policy
• ONT – Optical Network Terminal, also known as the “fibre box”
• CPE – Client Premises Equipment includes telecommunications and I.T. equipment at the customer’s physical location, including your Fibre Box and WiFi router.

ISPA

• As an Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) member we uphold and abide by the ISPA Code of Conduct.

Film and Publication Board

• Atomic is registered with the Film and Publication Board. View our certificate.

Atomic Contact Details

• Registered name: Atomic (Pty) LTD
• Contact email address: hello@atomic.co.za
• Telephone: 021 300 5046
• Registered address: 2 Gordon Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001

1. Support for Fibre Services

1. Our support details and process is outlined here:  https://www.atomic.co.za/support/
2. If there is a problem with your fibre line, we can certainly help you resolve this. When it comes to WiFi, and home/business network cabling, we can give advice, but it’s not something we can take responsibility for. We also can’t take responsibility for the devices on your home/business network. We suggest you talk to a desktop support company in your area. Please review our Scope of Services document.
3. If you skip over, are unable to perform the standard first-line checks, or simply choose not to (we will let you know what those are), and a technician from your Fibre Network Operator (FNO) is called out for a fault that is not related to the fibre line, there will be a call-out fee associated with that. Any fees incurred from your FNO will be passed on at cost to the customer. Sometimes this will get added to your next Atomic invoice, sometimes the FNO or their 3rd Party Contractor will bill you directly.
4. We are a founder run business, so we don’t have a 24/7 call centre of people but we try to help as quickly as reasonably possible.
5. Response time: We aim to have you sorted within the same day for most issues. Some issues relating to fibre networks or voodoo related WiFi issues can take longer. “We’re sorta like 7-Eleven. We’re not always doing business, but we’re always open.” — Boondock Saints
6. FNO service level agreements (SLA) are covered by their respective SLA. View these here: https://www.atomic.co.za/sla/
7. Routers plugged into the ONT must be configured in “Router” mode and not “Bridge” mode. Routers in “Bridge” mode may be disconnected.
8. We have a strict one MAC address per line policy to prevent IPv4 IPs from being wasted. Please make sure you connect a router directly to the fibre ONT.
9. We are here to help but you are ultimately responsible for managing, maintaining and administering your own network (everything that comes after the ONT). Please visit our self help docs for common troubleshooting tips.
10. We’ll do our very best to make sure you always have the most epic internet in the galaxy 🖖

2. WiFi and IT Support

1. Sometimes WiFi can be a dark art. Some customer premises results in unpredictable WiFi performance. This can be caused by noisy radio frequency (RF) environments, building design/materials and interference from other WiFi devices. We will do our best to advise and troubleshoot these kinds of problems but in the end, we can’t take responsibility for network devices on the customer premises.
2. Please note our support is limited to connectivity related matters. Slow laptops, faulty printers or buggy software would fall outside of the scope of services we can help with.
3. We only provide support services to active Atomic service holders at the fibre service address.
4. Free-to-use WiFi hardware provided by Atomic must remain linked to Atomic’s NMS or Cloud Controller for Atomic to provide support.
5. If another company supplies and/or manages your network devices, they will need to provide support for those devices as well as warranty claims, replacements, troubleshooting etc.
6. If you request your router admin login of a device Atomic supplied, we then offer limited support. If you change settings and run into a problem, we may have to reset your router to factory defaults.
7. All On-Site services provided by Atomic are charged for and are not included as part of your monthly Fibre service fee.
8. Please review our Scope of Services document.

3. Traffic patterns, bandwidth use, (Super) Fair Usage Policy

1. Customers agree that they will only use our fibre services in a manner consistent with this Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and that your failure to do may be grounds for us to suspend or discontinue service provision.
2. To protect the integrity and security of our network we reserve the right to allow access to it.
3. Our bandwidth policy is not set in stone, but if a customer is impacting the integrity of the network we will need to work with the customer to achieve a solution that works for both sides.
4. We aim to always give customers the full burstable capacity of their links, both locally and internationally. Please feel free to use your link’s full capacity for short uploads and downloads. Prolonged use at high speeds does have a cost impact. If we detect that your usage patterns are expensive, we’ll arrange a meeting and discuss some options on how you can adjust your usage patterns to use off-peak times or we may ask you to pay more so we don’t make a loss.
5. Residential services are sold on a “one line per home” basis and don’t allow aggregation using in-building networks.
6. Fibre services are sold for the intended use via WiFi and/or Ethernet at the service address listed on the service agreement.
7. You are not allowed to share/resell your internet with your neighbours or nearby offices.
8. You are not allowed to run an ISP/WISP using our internet services.
9. Lines may not be used to carry backhaul traffic for other network operators.
10. Our services are designed for humans using the internet. Things like automated downloads and automated video or audio streaming fall outside the scope of our normal services, especially if this generates consistent high traffic volumes.
11. If you have ‘IoT’ devices like smart switches, smart light controllers, camera monitoring systems, please always make sure that they have the latest security patches as these are targets for botnets and DDOS networks and can have a big impact on your traffic usage when they are compromised.
12. Unacceptable use:
    1. Any criminal, illegal or unlawful act.
    2. Any use which interferes with our ability to provide our services in any respect.
    3. Any use which interferes with our rights or the rights of any third party.
    4. Any use which is a breach of any other agreement we may have entered into with you or any policy or other terms and conditions which you have agreed to in connection with the use of our services.
    5. The use of the service to send unsolicited direct marketing communications in contravention of applicable law or which would cause us to be in contravention of the ISPA Code of Conduct.
13. From time to time we may need to apply rules relating to our super fair usage of the service to make sure that our network is efficiently managed.

4. Breach of Terms, Suspending and Cancelling a Service

1. If a customer is in breach of any of our terms and conditions, or has usage patterns which make the service unprofitable, and a resolution could not be obtained via conversation, or the customer ignores us, we reserve the right to cancel the service at the end of the current calendar month. If a customer is causing a problem which affects the service of other customers, we reserve the right to suspend the service immediately.
2. We reserve the right to not renew your fibre service beyond its current contract period.

5. Business Fibre Pricing

• Our business fibre list prices are based on standard small and medium size business usage profiles.
• e.g. 07h00-19h00 usage times.
• Heavy usage profile is quoted to spec.
• If you get a better quote, please let us know.

6. Fibre Service Billing Terms

1. Most services are provided on a month-to-month basis. Some services have contracts.
2. Services are billed a month in advance.
3. Your first invoice will include any pro-rata line rental, your next month’s line rental, installation/reconnection/migration/activation and hardware charges at the end of your first month.
4. You are welcome to fill out a non-binding direct debit mandate.
5. If you receive discounts on upfront fees (installations, migrations and reconnects), we will charge a pro-rata claw-back if I cancel within the first 6 months for migrations/reconnects, and in the first 12 months for installations e.g.:
   • Frogfoot install/migration/reconnect = R1,725
   • Octotel install = R1,725
   • Octotel migration/reconnect = R862
   • Vumatel installation = R1,725
   • Vumatel activation = R870
   • Openserve installation = R1,725
   • Openserve activation = R575
6. If you are offered a free-to-use router with your order and you end up taking one from Atomic, you might be eligible to get one of the following routers depending on the package you have selected. Note that if you cancel your service before 12 months have elapsed you can either pay the full fee for the router, or choose to return it to Atomic at your expense:
   • Free-to-use Reyee EW1200 = R579
   • Free-to-use Reyee EW1200G PRO = 809
   • Free-to-use EW1800GX WiFi 6 Mesh router = R1,299
7. Billing starts the day after the FNO makes you live. However, if there are any delays caused by Atomic, then we will not bill you until the day that we have fixed the issue and made sure your service is live.
8. If you are the reason you are not able to access the internet, and we have done everything in our power to be able to get you live, we will bill you from the day after the day that we could reasonably have assumed that you could be live.
9. From time to time Fibre Network Operators (FNO’s) will change their pricing, which will impact our prices. We will communicate any changes in pricing to you.
10. Important fibre service invoice dates:
    1. Our fibre service invoice date is the 1st of the month.
    2. Invoices are sent out ~7 days before the invoice date.
    3. Payments are due within 7 days of the invoice date.
    4. For example:
       • Invoice for January fibre service is generated ~ 24 December.
       • Invoice date 1 January.
       • Payment is due before 7 January.
11. In the event of using the incorrect payment reference or paying the incorrect amount, we will not be able to assign your payment and your account may be suspended. If your account is suspended by the Atomic Billing department, you will be liable to pay an unsuspension fee of R200 and the FNO reconnection fee if your line was suspended via your FNO. Please use the correct payment reference to avoid unnecessary fees.
12. In the event of non-payment by a customer and/or the customer is behind on payments, we will endeavour to reach out to resolve the billing issue. However, if the customer is unreachable after several attempts to resolve non-payment, and has not made contact by the 25th of the month, we will disconnect the line via the applicable Fibre Network Operator so that we are not billed for line rental on a line we are not receiving payment for. To get reconnected the customer will be required to settle any outstanding balances on their account, or agree to a payment plan, and will be liable for the Fibre Network Operator reconnection fee:
    • Frogfoot reconnect = R1725
    • Octotel reconnect = R862
    • Vumatel activation = R870
    • Openserve activation = R575
13. Understand that Atomic will continue to bill any line fee where a service suspension is in effect, but the line is not cancelled with the FNO.
14. Special offers are only available for new customers.
15. Please understand that it can take a few business days for payments made to Atomic to reflect in our accounting system and be reconciled.

7. Account Holder Responsibilities

1. All orders for services placed via our website need to be completed by the person responsible for paying service fees and/or the primary on-site contact. Do not sign up for an Atomic fibre service on behalf of someone else.
2. The Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) including Access Terminal Box (ATB), Optical Network Terminal (ONT), ONT Power Supply and float cable located at the service address remain the property of the respective Fibre Network Operator.
3. Damage, loss, or removal of any Fibre Network CPE at the service address will be charged for at the rate the Fibre Network Operator charges Atomic.
4. Please note power supplies supplied with WiFi Routers and ONTs are not covered under warranty. Please protect the WiFi and fibre devices from power fluctuations to avoid unwanted downtime. Learn more in our Fibre During loadshedding guide. Please ask us if you need any help.

8. Changes to Services

1. Service Upgrades:
   • Octotel + Frogfoot + Vumatel + Openserve: Upgrades are processed in about 1-2 business days. You will be billed pro-rata for the difference in cost for the remaining period of the month.
2. Service Downgrades:
   • Octotel: If you submit your downgrade request by 14h00 on the 24th of the month (or the previous working day if that falls on a non-work day) your line will be downgraded at the end of the same month.
   • Frogfoot: Downgrades on Frogfoot only come into effect once your current month’s service has elapsed. So, if you downgrade on the 12th of the month, your downgrade will only come into effect at the end of the following month.
   • Vumatel: Downgrades on Vumatel only come into effect once your current month’s service has elapsed. So, if you downgrade on the 12th of the month, your downgrade will only come into effect at the end of the following month.
   • Openserve:
     • Openserve downgrades incur a R115 downgrade fee.
     • Downgrades on Openserve only come into effect once your current month’s service has elapsed. So, if you downgrade on the 12th of the month, your downgrade will only come into effect at the end of the following month.
3. Service Cancellations:
   • Active services with Atomic must be cancelled by completing a Cancellation request on our Change Request form
   • Octotel: If you submit your cancellation request by 14h00 on the 24th of the month (or the previous working day if that falls on a non-work day) your line will be cancelled at the end of the same month.
   • Frogfoot: Frogfoot requires 30 days + 1 business day notice period. For example, if you give notice on the 15th of March, your Atomic service will end as soon as the 15th of April.
   • Vumatel: Vumatel requires 30 days + 1 business day notice period. For example, if you give notice on the 15th of March, your Atomic service will end as soon as the 15th of April.
   • Openserve: Openserve requires 30 days + 1 business day notice period. For example, if you give notice on the 15th of March, your Atomic service will end as soon as the 15th of April.

9. Data Collection Policy (POPI)

For all forms on the Atomic website:

1. A record of all personal information filled in is kept by Atomic. Atomic’s standard retention period for personal information is three years, except when a longer retention period is required by law.
2. The purpose for which the information is being collected is indicated on the form where it is collected. Atomic will not use the collected information for any purpose other than that stated upon collection, unless required by law. In general:
   1. Information collected relating to an order will be used only for the purpose of attempting to fulfil that order.
   2. Information collected relating to a contact request will be used only for the purpose of attempting to resolve that query.
   3. It is not mandatory for anyone to provide personal information to Atomic using any of the website forms. However, the consequences of not providing the requested information will be that Atomic is unable to assist in resolving the complaint or query.
   4. Personal information Atomic collects will be shared with the relevant Fibre Network Operators (FNOs) in order to fulfil or support that order with the relevant FNO. FNOs may also share your contact information with their 3rd party contractors who provide on-site services related to the fibre service. Collected information may also be shared with Atomic’s support, accounts, legal/regulatory, communications platforms and financial service providers.
   5. If you have provided personal information to Atomic, you have a right to ask for a copy of the information Atomic has stored, to request that Atomic correct any errors in that information and the right to object to any further processing of that information.
   6. Atomic takes every reasonable step to handle any personal information it is trusted with in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
   7. If you believe that Atomic has not acted in accordance with POPIA, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator.
   8. For the purpose of this notice and POPIA compliance, the identity of the person collecting the information is:
      Atomic PTY LTD
      2 Gordon Street
      Gardens
      Cape Town

10. SPAM, Safety, Unlawful content and activity

1. We take SPAM and unlawful activity seriously
2. Customers agree to not to send or promote the sending of spam
3. If you think our network is being used to send or relay spam, please email hello@atomic.co.za
4. ISPA provides relevant information on how to protect yourself and your children from online threats:
   • Cyber Safety Resources – https://ispa.org.za/safety/
   • Resources for Children and Teens – https://ispa.org.za/safety/children-and-teens/
5. Should you feel the need for assistance with any of the following acts please ask for assistance from ISPA:
   1. the Harassment Act (No. 17 of 2011)
   2. the Maintenance Act (No. 99 of 1998)
   3. Films and Publications Act (No. 65 of 1996) as amended
6. We are obliged to take appropriate action where it becomes aware of any unlawful content or conduct
   1. ISPA is our agent for the purpose of receiving take-down notifications in terms of section 75 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.
   2. The relevant details for ISPA are:
      Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA)
      Address: PO Box 518, Noordwyk, 1687
      Telephone: 010 500 1200
      Email: complaints@ispa.org.za