Broadband Fair Usage Policy

Version: 1.0
Effective date: 02 March 2026

This Fair Usage Policy (“FUP”) applies to all broadband services (“Service”) provided by Bletchley Networks Limited (Company No: 12091863). It applies whether you have purchased a residential broadband product or a business broadband product. You will have only one type of Service on a given line: either residential or business.

The purpose of this FUP is to ensure that all customers receive a consistent, high-quality broadband experience and that no individual customer’s use of the Service negatively affects other users or the overall performance of the network.

One broadband line may serve only one residential household or one business.

You must not share, extend, resell or otherwise make the Service available to any other household, dwelling, business, organisation, tenant, customer or separately occupied premises. This rule applies whether the sharing is free or paid.

1. General principles

The Service is generally supplied on an unlimited usage basis. However, all usage must be reasonable and consistent with the product you have purchased:

Residential broadband is intended for personal, household and family use.
Business broadband is intended for the day-to-day use of the single business or organisation that purchased the Service.

The Supplier monitors network performance and usage trends to ensure that the Service is not used in a way that is unfair, excessive or detrimental to other customers or the network.

2. One line, one household or business

Each broadband line is supplied for the exclusive use of one residential household or one business. A single line must not be shared between multiple households or multiple businesses, whether the sharing is free or paid and whether it is provided by cable, Wi-Fi, a wireless bridge, network equipment or any other method.

In particular:

A residential Service may be used only by the people who form one household at the service address. It must not be shared with another house, flat, self-contained dwelling or separately occupied unit.
A business Service may be used only by the business or organisation that purchased it, including its staff and authorised users. It must not be shared with another business, tenant, customer or separately operated organisation.

Each additional household or business must have its own separate broadband line and Service.

3. Excessive or abnormal usage

“Excessive” or “abnormal” usage means usage that is significantly above what the Supplier would reasonably expect from a typical customer on the same type of product, and/or usage that causes, or is likely to cause, degradation of the Service for other users.

Residential broadband – examples of usage that may be considered excessive include:

Running one or more services that continuously upload or download large volumes of data 24/7.
Using the connection in a way that resembles a commercial hosting or data centre service.
Regularly saturating the connection for prolonged periods so that other users or devices are affected.

Business broadband – higher and more continuous usage can be expected, but may still be excessive if, for example:

The connection is used for activities beyond normal business operations, such as high-volume public hosting or wholesale connectivity, where this is not part of your agreed product.
Usage regularly and significantly exceeds what is typical for similarly sized businesses on the same product.
Usage causes persistent congestion or performance issues on the local network segment.

Where excessive or abnormal usage is identified, the Supplier may contact you to discuss the issue, suggest changes to usage patterns or recommend moving to a different or higher-capacity product, if available.

4. Traffic management

The Supplier does not routinely apply traffic management. However, to protect the network and all customers, temporary traffic management measures may be used where:

There is severe or sustained network congestion.
Individual usage has a disproportionate impact on the network or other users.
Action is required to preserve network stability or security.

Traffic management measures may include one or more of the following:

Temporary speed adjustments at peak times.
Prioritisation of time-sensitive traffic, such as web browsing, VoIP and video conferencing, over non-time-sensitive traffic, such as bulk downloads and large file transfers.
Short-term restrictions on upload and/or download traffic where necessary.

Any such measures will be proportionate, targeted and kept in place only for as long as required to resolve the issue.

5. Intended use of residential and business broadband

Residential broadband

Residential broadband is intended for typical home activities such as streaming, browsing, gaming, online learning and occasional home working. It is not intended to be used as a commercial or public service. Uses that are not allowed on residential broadband include:

Running public-facing web, game or application servers intended for paying customers or the general public.
Reselling or sharing the Service with anyone outside your household.
Supplying connectivity to another dwelling, household, tenant or business.
Operating any service that effectively acts as a data centre or commercial hosting facility.

Business broadband

Business broadband is designed for business-critical applications, including cloud services, email, VoIP, remote access and line-of-business systems. Reasonable use of internal servers or services for the purchasing business’s staff and authorised users is acceptable. It must not be shared with any other business. Business broadband also does not include:

Wholesale resale of connectivity to third parties.
Operating high-volume public hosting platforms or similar services beyond the scope of normal business operations.
Use that consistently exceeds the design intent of the product you have purchased.

6. Prohibited activities on all broadband products

The following are prohibited on all residential and business broadband products:

Using the Service for any unlawful purpose, including copyright infringement, fraud, harassment or other illegal activities.
Deliberately attempting to disrupt, attack or gain unauthorised access to any network, system or device.
Changing, interfering with or attempting to bypass network security, traffic management or monitoring.
Running open proxies, open relays or similar services that may be abused by third parties.
Reselling, sharing or redistributing the Service to any additional household or business.
Any activity in breach of the Supplier’s Acceptable Use Policy or main terms and conditions.

7. Breaches and consequences

If the Supplier reasonably believes that you are in breach of this FUP, the Supplier may take one or more of the following proportionate steps:

Contact you to explain the issue and request that your usage or behaviour is changed.
Apply temporary traffic management or other technical measures to protect the network.
Recommend or require that you move to a more appropriate product, such as moving from residential to business broadband where usage is clearly business in nature.
Require a separate line for each additional household or business using the Service.
Temporarily suspend or restrict the Service.
Terminate the Service where breaches are serious, persistent or wilful.

If your Service is terminated as a result of a breach of this FUP, you will not be entitled to a refund for charges already paid, and early termination charges may apply in accordance with your broadband contract and applicable Ofcom rules and guidance.

8. Changes to this Fair Usage Policy

The Supplier may update this FUP from time to time to reflect changes in technology, regulatory requirements or network capacity. Any material changes will be communicated to customers with at least 30 days’ notice, unless a shorter period is required by law or regulatory guidance.

End of Broadband Fair Usage Policy

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