Terms of Service

This agreement is between Be Digital Limited (trading as Be Connect) and you, the end user of Be Connect services. Additional terms may apply to particular services; where there is any conflict, the service-specific terms in the relevant tab prevail.

1. Our services

We are not obliged to provide services unless we accept your application, and we may decide whether to accept any application. Our VoIP service is not a traditional telephone service and is provided on a best-efforts basis. We will use all reasonable endeavours to keep our services available, but matters beyond our control — such as power outages or the performance of your internet connection — may disrupt them.

You acknowledge that our VoIP service is a non-compliant voice service under the Emergency Calling (111) Code. Be Connect will still use all reasonable means to process your emergency call, but this cannot be guaranteed. Our VoIP service may not be compatible with non-voice equipment such as medical or home alarms, monitored security systems, fax machines or EFTPOS. You are responsible for arranging an alternative means of calling 111 (for example a mobile phone).

2. Charges and payment

• Services are offered on a prepay basis. Plans, access and additional services are billed monthly in advance; other usage is charged pay-as-you-go.
• You must maintain a positive credit balance. Accepted payment methods are credit card, debit card and online banking. If your balance is exhausted during a call or session, the service may be disconnected.
• Card payments will appear on your statement as Be Digital Limited.
• We may change our rates from time to time and will give you as much notice as reasonably possible. Current rates are published on our website.
• Billing disputes must be raised in writing within 30 days of the charge, or you are deemed to have accepted it. No refunds are provided for unused credit balances, and a credit balance on an account inactive for 6 months may be forfeited.

3. Using our services

You must not use (or allow others to use) our services in any way that breaks the law, infringes any person’s rights, or is malicious, obscene or offensive. You must provide accurate information and keep any password or PIN secure. Our personal and small-business plans are provided on a fair-use basis (see the Business Messaging and Broadband tabs for specific fair-use limits). We may monitor, suspend, restrict or withdraw services, or apply standard per-minute rates, if you resell our services without authorisation, breach these terms, use a service outside normal use, or do not maintain a positive balance.

4. Phone numbers

Any number we allocate to you remains the property of Be Connect or the relevant carrier and does not transfer to you. We may change a number where reasonably necessary, giving as much notice as possible. You may port an eligible number to another provider under the Terms for Local and Mobile Number Portability; you are responsible for the porting requirements and any costs. If your account is inactive for more than 3 months and the number has not been ported, we may reallocate it.

5. Term and termination

We may terminate this agreement or any service immediately if you breach these terms or provide incorrect or misleading information. To end a service, please contact our support team. Consistent with clause 2, unused credit balances are non-refundable on termination unless agreed otherwise or required by law.

6. Your consumer rights and our liability

If you acquire our services as a consumer (not for business purposes), you have the benefit of the guarantees in the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the protections of the Fair Trading Act 1986. Nothing in these terms limits or excludes rights you have under those Acts that cannot lawfully be excluded.

If you acquire our services for the purposes of a business, you agree that the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 does not apply, and that (to the extent permitted by law) sections 9, 12A and 13 of the Fair Trading Act 1986 do not apply, as this is a fair and reasonable allocation of risk for a business supply.

To the extent permitted by law, we (and our officers, employees, contractors and agents) are not liable for: intercepted, mis-transmitted or unreceived communications; service disruptions, delays or non-provision; incompatibility with other services or equipment; software or equipment faults; directory-listing errors; or loss caused by viruses or events beyond our reasonable control. Where we are liable, our total liability for any event or related series of events is capped at the average monthly charges to you, and to a maximum of three months’ average charges in any 12-month period. Nothing in this clause limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

7. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy forms part of this agreement and explains how we collect, use, store and disclose your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020.

8. Changes, notices and disputes

We may change these terms from time to time, giving as much notice as reasonably possible by email or on our website. We communicate with you primarily by email to the address you provide, and you agree that email is an accepted means of notice for service, billing and account matters — please read these emails promptly. These terms are governed by New Zealand law and subject to the jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts. If we cannot resolve a complaint with you, you may refer it to the Telecommunications Dispute Resolution (TDR) scheme, a free and independent service.

You may not assign your rights under this agreement. We may transfer our rights and obligations to another party and will notify you if we do so.

Porting Terms and Conditions

These terms apply when you ask Be Connect to port (transfer) a telephone number to us, or when you port a number away.

Your authority and responsibilities

• You confirm you have the authority to request the porting of the numbers listed in your Number Porting Form and authorise Be Connect to act on your behalf to port them.
• You are responsible for all costs associated with porting. Be Connect is not liable for any direct or indirect loss or damage resulting from any failure or delay in the porting process.
• To effect the port, Be Connect will supply the information in your porting form to third parties for the purpose of porting the numbers.

What you should understand before porting

• When a number is ported to us, you will no longer receive service for that number from your previous provider. It is your responsibility to check your existing contract for any outstanding obligations (including early-termination charges) and to discharge them.
• Other services linked to the number — including internet, alarm lines and linked numbers — may be cancelled or affected as part of the port. Be Connect takes no responsibility if your other telecommunications services are adversely impacted by a port request.
• Be Connect is not obliged to accept a porting request.
• After porting to Be Connect, some services you currently receive may not be supported, or may be accessed differently.
• We comply with our obligations under the New Zealand Terms for Local and Mobile Number Portability (LMNP/TCF) when porting numbers.

Broadband Terms and Conditions

These terms apply where Be Connect provides broadband (internet) services to you, in addition to the general Terms of Service.

Availability and speeds

• Your order is subject to a qualification/availability check during provisioning. If we cannot provide the service, you may cancel the order without penalty.
• Plan speeds are the theoretical maximum speeds at which you may send or receive data on our network. Actual speeds depend on many factors, including other providers’ delivery of data, your line quality and equipment, the number of users on your connection, and national/international routing. We cannot guarantee that services will always be available or suitable for any particular purpose. Connections to servers outside our network are provided on a best-efforts basis.

Fair use and network management

• On uncapped or unlimited plans there is no fixed data limit, but we may apply reasonable traffic-management and prioritisation policies to protect network performance for all customers, and to prioritise real-time voice and video traffic.
• Unlimited plans are intended for use by a single end customer. Running server farms, or sharing a connection across multiple customers or premises, is prohibited.
• You must not knowingly transmit malware, or use the service in a way likely to damage or compromise the security of our network or any other network.
• We do not control content available over the internet and are not responsible for inaccurate, unlawful or offensive material, or for any harmful code you download.

Installation, pricing and cancellation

• We may install equipment and carry out work at your premises. You grant us and our contractors a licence to access your premises as reasonably required to install, maintain, monitor and remove equipment, and you must obtain any necessary consents (e.g. landlord approval).
• Listed prices are for standard installations. Complex or non-standard installations, and any “no fault found” charges, are quoted or on-charged as applicable.
• Broadband is sold on a prepay basis, billed in advance. Services may be cancelled at any time; there are no part-month refunds.

Mobile Terms and Conditions

These terms apply where Be Connect provides mobile services and SIM cards to you, in addition to the general Terms of Service.

Your SIM and service

• SIM cards remain the property of Be Connect and must be returned or destroyed on request. You are responsible for keeping your SIM, PIN and account details secure, and for all use of the service on your SIM (whether by you or anyone else).
• Mobile services rely on the coverage and performance of the underlying mobile network. Coverage, speed and availability vary by location, device, network load and other factors, and cannot be guaranteed.
• Included allowances (calls, texts and data) are for personal or ordinary business use on a fair-use basis, for use within New Zealand unless stated, and exclude premium, special and international numbers. We may monitor and manage use that is inconsistent with normal use.

Charges, roaming and emergency calls

• Mobile services are prepay. Once an allowance or credit balance is used, casual/pay-as-you-go rates apply or service may be limited until topped up. Current rates are published on our website.
• International roaming, premium and special-rate services may be charged at higher rates and may be disabled by default. You are responsible for charges incurred while roaming.
• Standard mobile services support 111 emergency calling via the mobile network. Emergency access may not be available where there is no coverage, no power, or where the device or SIM is not functioning.

Portability and termination

You may port an eligible mobile number to or from Be Connect (see the Porting tab). We may suspend or terminate mobile services for breach, non-payment, suspected fraud, or misuse. Consumer rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 apply where you acquire the service as a consumer.

Business Messaging Terms and Conditions

These terms apply to Be Connect’s business messaging, hosted PBX, conferencing and related communications features, in addition to the general Terms of Service.

Acceptable use

• You are solely responsible for the content, information and data you send, stream or store using our messaging and conferencing services, and for ensuring you have the right and any necessary consents to do so.
• By taking part in a public or private conference or message stream, you consent to your disclosed information being transmitted to the other participants.
• You must not use the services to send unlawful, misleading, defamatory, obscene or offensive content, to harass any person, or to breach any third party’s rights.
• You must comply with all applicable laws, including the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 (see the Business SMS tab), the Privacy Act 2020 and the Fair Trading Act 1986.

Fair use, availability and liability

• Messaging features are provided on a fair-use, best-efforts basis. We do not guarantee continuous availability, message delivery to third-party networks, or that any particular feature will remain available.
• We may set reasonable sending limits and apply anti-abuse and anti-spam controls to protect our network and other customers.
• To the extent permitted by law, Be Connect is not liable for the content you transmit, for non-delivery caused by third-party networks, or for loss arising from your misuse of the services. The liability provisions in the Terms of Service apply.

Business SMS Terms and Conditions

These terms apply to the Be Connect SMS platform, gateway, API, email-to-SMS and SMS-to-email services (the “Service”), provided by Be Digital Limited (trading as Be Connect). By accessing or using the Service you (the “Client”) agree to these terms. Where product-specific terms conflict with general terms, the product-specific terms apply.

1. The Service

• The Service comprises a browser interface, messaging application, SMS gateway access, API, email-to-SMS and SMS-to-email, reporting, data transmission, storage and (where applicable) virtual mobile numbers.
• You are responsible for obtaining and maintaining the hardware, software and connectivity needed to access the Service, and for any access charges you incur. SMS credits are pre-paid and activated on payment.
• We make no guarantee of continuous availability of the Service or any feature. Messages are deemed delivered when Be Connect SMS has passed them to the immediate destination (such as a mobile network, SMTP server, API or intermediary). We do not guarantee delivery by mobile networks or mail servers, and make no claim over third-party network coverage.

2. Licence and acceptable use

• Subject to these terms and New Zealand law, Be Connect SMS grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sub-licensable licence to use its software and API in object-code form, only as documented and only in conjunction with the Service.
• You must not reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, resell or attempt to derive the source code of the Service, except to the extent permitted by law.
• You must comply with the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 (NZ): send commercial messages only to recipients who have consented, clearly identify yourself as the sender, and include a functional unsubscribe/opt-out facility in every commercial message. You are responsible for honouring opt-outs and for the content and legality of your messages.
• You must not use the Service for spam, phishing, unlawful, misleading, obscene or offensive content, or to breach any person’s rights or the Privacy Act 2020.

3. Payment, credits and refunds

• All fees are payable up front, prior to credits being activated. Credits are pre-paid and, unless stated otherwise, are non-refundable.
• We may change pricing or the Service, and may suspend or terminate access for breach of these terms.

4. Liability

To the extent permitted by law, Be Connect SMS is not liable for non-delivery by third-party networks, for the content you transmit, or for loss arising from your misuse of the Service. Where you acquire the Service as a consumer, the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 applies; where you acquire it for business purposes, it does not, and the liability provisions of the Terms of Service apply. These terms are governed by New Zealand law.