1. Services. The Service Provider shall provide direct broadcast satellite or “direct to home” (“DTH”) service (hereinafter referred to as “SKYDIRECT” or “DTH Service”) to the Subscriber in accordance with this Agreement. Value-added services (VAS) may also be provided if and when available, subject to the terms and conditions for the availment of such services as provided herein.
2. Changes in Programming. The Service Provider reserves the right to add or remove channel programs, or otherwise alter or change the channel programming line-up delivered to the Subscriber, without prior notice. In such event, the changes effected by Service Provider shall not be considered a violation of this Agreement.
3. Installation Fees and Other Charges.
A. For Postpaid Subscribers ONLY: the Subscriber agrees to pay Service Provider subscription fees and other charges, as well as all applicable taxes, in accordance with the selected payment plan in the Service Application Form. The Service Provider reserves the right to increase the monthly subscription fee, cost of services and impose charges other than those indicated in the said form.
B. For Prepaid and Postpaid Subscribers:
The Subscriber agrees to pay:
a. Installation Fees. Every Subscriber shall be charged, through the Service Provider of its Authorized Distributor, installation fees for the physical installation [dish assembly, wall/floor bracket installation, dish alignment & set-up, cable layout, receiver scanning and video check] of set-top box or compatible satellite reception, satellite antenna or dish, cables, low noise block (LNB) converter, and other Equipment in the Subscriber’s premises that would enable the Subscriber to receive DTH signal. Installation fees shall also be charged to Subscriber upon reconnection of service, regardless of reason for disconnection, and transfer of residence.
b. Excess Cable. There shall be additional charges for materials and labor for installation in excess of the standard length of cable, as determined by Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor, from the satellite antenna or dish to the Subscriber’s set-top box (Digibox). Subscriber shall be responsible for any damage to said cables.
c. Additional Equipment. Subscriber shall purchase any additional equipment needed to receive DTH Service. They are paid for upon installation and shall become the property of the Subscriber, with limited warranty.
d. Pre-termination Fee. A pre-termination fee will be applied should discontinuation be made by the SUBSCRIBER before the end of lock in period, in consonance with Sec. 2.6 of Memorandum Circular No. 05-06-2007(Consumer Protection Guidelines of the National Telecommunications Commission). This provision shall not apply to all accounts with no lock-in plans or no lock-in period.
e. Other Charges. Service charges shall be imposed, through the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor, for other services and Subscriber-initiated requests including, but not limited to, disconnection or transfer of the main connection within the Subscriber’s premises; installation, disconnection and/or transfer of extensions; delivery of repaired and/or replacement equipment; repairs and other similar services.
4. Purchased Equipment
a. Installation of Equipment. Upon payment of the purchase price, certain equipment, such as but not limited to the satellite dish, LNB (low noise block) converter, connectors, remote control, and cabling, as may be provided by Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor, shall be installed at the premises of the Subscriber. Ownership over the purchased equipment shall be the Subscriber’s. Ownership over equipment or accessories installed in connection with the
“DTH Service” not paid for by the Subscriber shall remain with the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor. For all accounts with no lock-in period, ownership over equipment or accessories installed will remain to be a property of the Service Provider.
b. Installation and Transfer of Equipment. Only the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor may install or transfer equipment for the DTH Service. The Subscriber shall not perform, nor shall the Subscriber allow, the installation, connection, disconnection, movement, change or alteration of the dish assembly, wall/floor bracket installation, dish alignment & set-up, cable layout, receiver scanning and video check] of set-top box or compatible satellite reception, satellite antenna or dish, cables and other equipment in the Subscriber’s premises, service line
and/or other equipment installed relative to the DTH Service by a party other than Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor personnel or representatives.
The Subscriber shall notify the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor for any request for assistance in the installation, connection, disconnection, movement, change or alteration of Equipment, including the movement of the Equipment within and without the Subscriber’s premises, which shall be immediately serviced by the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor. The Subscriber shall supply the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor all information which the latter may deem necessary to process the Subscriber’s request. Any and all adverse effects, including service interruption, and/or damage caused by the unauthorized installation, connection, disconnection, movement, change or alteration of the
equipment shall be borne by the Subscriber. Without prejudice to the other applicable provisions in this Agreement, the foregoing shall also render void any replacement warranty on the equipment.
c. Loss or damage to the Equipment. The Subscriber shall be responsible for any loss or damage unauthorized modifications, alterations, substitutions, tampering and/or unauthorized use of the Equipment while in the Subscriber’s possession and custody, except for reasonable wear and tear. If the Equipment is damaged while in the possession of the Subscriber, the Subscriber shall immediately notify the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor thereof and deliver the damaged Equipment to the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor for testing and repair. The Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor shall replace any Equipment found defective, malfunctioning or damaged as a result of manufacturer’s flaws. The Service Provider
reserves the option to call on the Equipment manufacturer’s warranty; however, the Equipment shall not be replaced if such defect, malfunction or damage is found to be due to improper use, abuse, faulty handling, accident, neglect, lightning, electrical current fluctuations, tampering, repair by unauthorized technician, improper parts replacement, force majeure, fortuitous event, and other circumstances beyond the control of the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor, or such acts as may be attributable to the fault or negligence of the Subscriber. The Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor shall not be responsible for any damages to the Subscriber’s television or other appliances and devices, as well as signal or system problems
that may arise due to the instances mentioned in the immediately preceding sentence, even if caused by the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor’s Equipment.
d. Effect of Purchase from Non-Authorized Distributors. The Subscriber may purchase any DTH kit for use in connection with the DTH Service from the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor which shall provide the seller’s warranty thereof. No DTH Kit acquired from Non-Authorized Distributors may be used nor installed by the Subscriber relative to the DTH Service. In any case, the Subscriber shall hold Service Provider and its Authorized Distributor free and harmless from any claim, liability or damage arising from the use, operation or malfunction of the DTH Kit nor by reason of the Subscriber’s failure to comply with the provisions hereof, and shall indemnify Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor for any such claim, liability or damage. Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor shall not be responsible for the failure of any equipment acquired by the Subscriber from a Non-Authorized Distributor to adopt to Service Provider’s network nor provide certain value-added services, call features or functions that are being provided by Service Provider, when so requested to be activated by the Subscriber.
e. Warranty of Purchased DTH Kit. Brand new DTH Kits purchased by the Subscriber from Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor have a 12 months warranty for the Digibox (set-top box) and 6 months warranty for the Satellite antenna or dish and Low Noise Block (LNB) converter on repair and labor.
f. Condition upon acceptance and delivery: The Subscriber shall inspect the Equipment upon delivery and shall be conclusively presumed to have accepted the same in good working condition as of delivery date, unless the Subscriber serves the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributors a written notice within a (1) week from delivery date thereof specifying any defect in the Equipment. A replacement Equipment shall then be provided to the Subscriber.
g. The Subscriber accepts upon delivery thereof, the ownership and the title and risk of all Equipment supplied by the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor, namely, (collectively, the “Equipment”) shall be transferred to the Subscriber. The Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor makes no warranty on the Equipment merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose
h. Assignment, Transfer or Lease: The Subscriber shall NOT sell, assign, sublease, mortgage, charge, encumber the purchased Equipment and shall at all times be responsible therefor.
5. Access to Premises. The Subscriber shall allow access to its premises at reasonable hours the duly authorized personnel of the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor for installation, maintenance, inspection, removal of DTH kit or equipment, quality assurance and technical audit purposes and/or other equipment or accessories especially those owned by Service Provider. The Subscriber shall be
responsible/liable for whatever loss of, or damage to, the dish assembly, Digibox, service line and/or other equipment or accessories installed within the Subscriber’s premises.
6. Disconnection and Termination of DTH Service. The Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor reserves the right to disconnect the Service of the Subscriber, without prior notice, in any of the following instances:
(a) Unauthorized lease, assignment or transfer of the DTH signal;
(b) Subscription fraud discovered after approval of application;
(c) Violation of any of the provisions of this Agreement and the rules and regulations of the Service Provider supplementary thereto;
(d) Use of the service for any illegal or immoral purposes;
(e) Unauthorized reception of the Service Provider’s DTH signal, including unauthorized extensions;
(f) Unauthorized connection of accessories to DTH system; and
(g) Other similar causes.
The Service Provider or its Authorized Distributors reserves the right to adjust, modify, or immediately terminate this Agreement as the service may require or for any violation by Subscriber of any of the terms and conditions herein. The Service Provider or its Authorized Distributors also reserves the right to cease offering the Service upon due notice to the Subscriber.
7. Intellectual Property. The Subscriber hereby undertakes to uphold the intellectual property rights and interests of the Service Provider and third parties and hereby commits to refrain from unauthorized taping, recording, duplicating or otherwise reproducing, in any manner, form, and purpose whatsoever, the programs, trademarks, logos, copyrights and services received by and passed to the Subscriber
under and by reason of this Agreement without prejudice to the right of the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor to recover damages and/or to file the necessary criminal action against violators.
8. Restriction on Viewership. DTH Service under this Agreement shall be for private and exclusive use or personal viewing only and shall not be used for business, commercial or industrial purposes. The Subscriber shall hold the Service Provider free and harmless from any and all liability arising from a violation of this condition.
9. Limitation of Liability. The Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor shall not assume any liability for any suits, actions and/or claims arising from interruptions or impairment of service and damage to property including but not limited to TV sets, video and audio equipment; house of the Subscriber or third persons; and injury to persons or pets that may be caused by lightning, typhoon, earthquake, other natural calamities; electrical current fluctuations, accident, force majeure, fortuitous events, or circumstances beyond the control of the Service Provider, DTH system problems arising from unauthorized cable connection, extension or transfer, even if caused by Service Provider equipment; works made by unauthorized technicians; acts or omissions on the part of a third party; and acts attributable to Subscriber, in the course of the delivery of the DTH Service to Subscriber. Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, any liability of the Service Provider or its Authorized Distributor in connection with or arising from this Agreement shall be limited to an amount equivalent to the prepaid cost actually paid by the Subscriber to the Service Provider.
In no case shall Service Provider be liable to the Subscriber by contract, tort, or otherwise for indirect, consequential damages or for loss of revenues, profits or other economic gain. The Subscriber understands that Service Provider upgrades and maintains its networks and thus he/she cannot hold Service Provider responsible for any direct or indirect damages arising from such activities.
10. Third Party Liability. Third parties who are directly benefited by this Agreement by reason of any act of omission of the Subscriber shall be bound by the terms of this Agreement in accordance with Article 1311 of the Civil Code of the Philippines.
11. Service Commitment on Signal Interruptions.
For Postpaid Subscribers: The fees due to the Service Providers shall continue to accrue without deductions even in case of service interruption for causes beyond the control of the Service Providers.
For Postpaid and Prepaid Subscribers: The Service Provider does not warrant that an uninterrupted DTH signal and/or clear reception will be available to the subscriber at all times. The Subscriber shall hold the Service Provider free and harmless from any and all liabilities as a result of such interruption of signal and/or clear reception or service interruption for causes beyond the control of the Service Provider, including inclement weather. However, the Service Provider will exert its best efforts to deliver a continuous and clear DTH signal to the Subscriber in accordance with technical standards as provided under the rules and regulations of the National Telecommunications Commission.
12. Amendments. The Service Provider reserves the right to amend, modify, change or supplement the terms and conditions to this Agreement as the Service may require. The Service Provider shall advise Subscriber of any such changes or supplements with prior notice.
13. Venue of Action and Expenses of Litigation. The parties agree that the venue of all actions arising from this Agreement shall be the proper courts in Angeles City, Pampanga, to the exclusion of all other venues. In addition to any amounts due and collectible, Subscriber shall pay twenty five percent (25%) of such amount as damages and twenty five percent (25%) for attorney’s fees and cost of suit.
14. Confidentiality. All personal information provided by the Subscriber in the Service Application Form will be treated with utmost confidentiality. However, the Subscriber hereby acknowledges that the Service Provider may have to disclose such information to its Authorized Distributors, authorized agents or representative, employees, consultants, and personnel on a need-to-know basis, who in turn shall likewise be subject to the same confidentiality undertaking, in any and all instances when such disclosure is necessary for the execution of efforts geared towards overall customer satisfaction, which include information dissemination through marketing, SMS marketing or telemarketing of the Service Provider’s and subsidiaries’ products and other means, facilitating services requests and maintenance work, and the like.