Acceptable Use Policy
Comtel Communications (Pty) Ltd · Acceptable Use Policy
1. Purpose and Scope
1.1 This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) forms part of Comtel’s General Terms and Conditions and applies to every Client, user, household member, employee, contractor, guest, visitor, device and service that accesses or uses Comtel’s network, IP resources, equipment, FNO services, MVNO services, upstream providers or related systems.
1.2 This AUP applies to Comtel’s fibre internet services, delivered through FibreZone at fibre.comtel.co.za, and to Comtel’s MVNO mobile services, delivered through MobileZone at mobile.comtel.co.za.
1.3 The purpose of this AUP is to protect the integrity, security and availability of Comtel’s network; to protect other Clients, third parties and Comtel from harm; and to ensure that all use of the Service is lawful and consistent with the ISPA Code of Conduct and applicable South African law.
2. Client Responsibility
2.1 The Client is responsible for all use of the Service, whether by the Client, household members, employees, contractors, guests, tenants, visitors, users, compromised devices, WiFi users or any person who accesses the Service through the Client’s account, premises, router, equipment or credentials.
2.2 The Client may not transfer, delegate or assign its obligations under this AUP to any other person.
3. Lawful Use
3.1 The Service may only be used for lawful purposes and in accordance with applicable South African law, FNO rules, upstream-provider rules, Comtel’s General Terms and Conditions, the Service Order, product-specific terms and this AUP.
3.2 Comtel provides the Service for the use of the Client at the service premises as described in the Service Order. The Service may not be resold, redistributed or used as the basis for a public-facing internet access service without Comtel’s prior written approval.
4. Prohibited Conduct
4.1 The Client must not use, allow or permit the Service to be used for any of the following:
4.1.1 Spam and messaging abuse
- Sending, facilitating or enabling spam, unsolicited bulk email, unsolicited bulk messaging, mail bombing, forged headers, open mail relays or any activity that damages Comtel’s sender reputation or IP reputation.
4.1.2 Malware and security attacks
- Distributing, hosting, facilitating or enabling phishing, malware, ransomware, spyware, adware, botnets, command-and-control traffic, credential attacks, browser hijacking or any other malicious code or automated attack.
4.1.3 Network attacks
- Conducting or facilitating denial-of-service attacks, distributed denial-of-service attacks, traffic floods, port scanning, network scanning, vulnerability exploitation, unauthorised penetration testing, brute-force attacks or any form of network interference that could harm Comtel’s network or any third party’s systems.
4.1.4 Unauthorised access
- Gaining, attempting to gain, facilitating or permitting unauthorised access to, interference with, monitoring of or interception of any network, system, server, device, service, account, database or data.
4.1.5 Unlawful content
- Creating, accessing, storing, hosting, transmitting, distributing or making available child sexual abuse material (CSAM), unlawful hate speech, incitement to violence, fraud, scams, impersonation content, identity theft material or any other content that is unlawful under South African law or applicable international law.
4.1.6 Copyright and intellectual property infringement
- Infringing copyright, intellectual property rights or moral rights through downloading, uploading, distributing, hosting or making available protected material without authorisation.
4.1.7 Fraud and identity abuse
- Spoofing, impersonation, identity fraud, SIM fraud, account fraud, payment fraud, social engineering, phishing or any deceptive practice directed at Comtel, other Clients or third parties.
4.1.8 Unauthorised resale and redistribution
- Reselling, redistributing, subletting, sharing or otherwise providing public or commercial internet access based on the Service — including public hotspot resale, WISP operations or commercial hosting — without Comtel’s prior written approval.
4.1.9 Automated abuse
- Operating excessive automated activity that bypasses controls, disrupts network integrity or materially harms other Clients.
4.1.10 Blacklisting and reputational harm
- Using the Service in any manner that causes or may cause Comtel, its FNOs, upstream providers or IP resources to be blacklisted, blocked, rate-limited or reputationally harmed by any third party, industry body or internet authority.
4.1.11 Third-party network rule violations
- Violating any FNO, upstream provider, international transit provider or hosting provider’s acceptable use, abuse or security policy.
4.1.12 VoIP and PBX service abuse
- Using Comtel’s VoIP or PBX services for toll fraud — including generating or routing calls without authorisation in a manner that results in financial loss to Comtel, another carrier or any other party.
- Conducting or facilitating SIP scanning, SIP credential stuffing, brute-force attacks against SIP infrastructure or any form of unauthorised access to VoIP or PBX systems.
- Using VoIP services to originate unsolicited automated calls, robocalls, spam voice calls or bulk outbound dialling campaigns without the recipient’s consent.
4.1.13 MVNO mobile service abuse
- Conducting or facilitating SIM fraud, SIM swap fraud or any form of unauthorised SIM activation, transfer or account takeover.
- Providing false, inaccurate or fraudulent identity or address information during RICA verification for any SIM card activation. Providing false RICA information is a criminal offence under South African law.
- Generating or facilitating artificial traffic to premium-rate numbers — including routing calls or messages to premium-rate services in a manner designed to generate financial gain for the Client or a third party at Comtel’s or the host network’s expense.
4.1.14 Programme fraud — referrals, gift codes and competitions
- Creating or using fictitious identities, or impersonating another person, to obtain referral credit, gift-code discounts, competition entries or competition prizes.
- Claiming a referral benefit where no genuine, lasting service connection results — including activating a service to trigger a referral benefit and then cancelling it.
- Manipulating, spoofing or circumventing Comtel’s redemption, referral-tracking or competition systems to obtain a benefit the person is not entitled to.
- Publishing, sharing or using a gift code outside its intended campaign, where the code was not issued for open distribution.
- Repeatedly signing up for and cancelling a service, or signing up under successive identities, to obtain the Home complimentary period or any promotional benefit without paying for ongoing service.
4.1.15 Payment abuse
- Reversing, charging back or recalling a payment for a service that has been used, otherwise than through a genuine billing dispute raised under the General Terms and Conditions.
5. Network Abuse and Abnormal Use
5.1 Comtel does not impose a general data cap on uncapped Services unless a product-specific term or fair usage policy states otherwise. High data usage alone is not prohibited.
5.2 Comtel may treat usage as abusive, abnormal or unreasonable where it:
(a) materially degrades the Service for other Clients or users on the network;
(b) threatens network security, stability or integrity;
(c) appears to be caused by malware, botnets, open proxies, compromised devices or abusive automation;
(d) breaches FNO or upstream-provider rules;
(e) is inconsistent with the product type — for example, unauthorised commercial resale on a residential service; or
(f) causes operational, legal, security or reputational risk to Comtel or its suppliers.
6. Enforcement Steps
6.1 Where Comtel identifies a breach or suspected breach of this AUP, Comtel may take reasonable steps proportionate to the severity, urgency and risk, including:
(a) notifying the Client and requesting corrective action;
(b) requiring the Client to secure devices, remove malware, stop abusive traffic or change configuration;
(c) blocking, filtering or rate-limiting specific abusive traffic;
(d) temporarily restricting the Service;
(e) suspending the Service;
(f) terminating the Service in serious or repeated cases; and
(g) reporting the conduct to the FNO, upstream provider, ISPA, ICASA, law-enforcement or another competent authority where required or permitted by law.
7. Urgent Protective Action
7.1 Comtel may act without prior notice where urgent action is reasonably necessary to:
(a) protect network integrity or prevent harm to other Clients;
(b) prevent or stop unlawful activity;
(c) comply with a legal obligation, court order or regulator direction;
(d) respond to instructions from a FNO or upstream provider; or
(e) protect Comtel’s IP resources from blacklisting or blocking.
7.2 Comtel will notify the Client as soon as reasonably practicable after taking urgent action.
8. Client Review Process
8.1 Comtel will make AUP enforcement decisions reasonably and on the basis of available technical, operational, legal and security information.
8.2 A Client may request a review of an AUP enforcement decision through Comtel’s complaints and escalation process as set out in clause 20 of the General Terms and Conditions.
8.3 This review process does not limit any statutory or industry complaint right.
9. Security of Client Equipment
9.1 The Client must take reasonable steps to secure routers, WiFi networks, devices, passwords, servers, cameras, IoT devices and internal systems against unauthorised access and abuse.
9.2 The Client must not operate open proxies, open mail relays, insecure services or compromised systems that generate or facilitate network abuse.
9.3 Where Comtel detects or suspects that Client equipment is compromised or is generating abusive traffic, Comtel may notify the Client and require the Client to take corrective action. If the Client does not take corrective action within a reasonable time, Comtel may take the enforcement steps set out in clause 6.
10. ISPA Takedown and Abuse Reports
10.1 Comtel has established a notification and take-down procedure for unlawful content in accordance with the ISPA Code of Conduct and applicable South African law.
10.2 Takedown notices, copyright infringement notices and abuse reports must be submitted to: abuse@comtel.co.za. Notices must include:
(a) the identity of the notifying party;
(b) a description of the unlawful content or conduct;
(c) the URL, IP address or other identifier of the relevant content or service;
(d) a statement that the notifying party believes in good faith that the content or conduct is unlawful; and
(e) the notifying party’s contact details for follow-up.
10.3 On receipt of a valid takedown notice, Comtel will:
(a) investigate the notice expeditiously;
(b) take reasonable steps to address the reported unlawful content; and
(c) submit a report to ISPA on the steps taken, as required by the ISPA Code of Conduct.
10.4 Comtel will retain records of all takedown notices received for a minimum of three years from the date of receipt.
11. RICA Obligations
11.1 The Client must provide accurate RICA documentation at the time of application in accordance with clause 10 of the General Terms and Conditions. The Client must notify Comtel of any material change to RICA information — including change of address or change of entity details — as soon as reasonably possible.
11.2 For MVNO mobile services, RICA verification is mandatory for each SIM card activation. The Client must not activate or use a SIM card without completing RICA verification. Providing false or inaccurate RICA information is a criminal offence under South African law.
12. Cooperation
12.1 The Client must cooperate reasonably with Comtel to investigate and resolve abuse incidents, security incidents, network incidents, FNO complaints, copyright complaints, law-enforcement requests and third-party network reports.
12.2 Failure to cooperate may be treated as a breach of this AUP and may result in enforcement action under clause 6.