Fine print, notices, disclaimers, etc.

This page has the most important 'fine print' details that you should know about before ordering services through BBapply.com.

SoftBank, the owner of Yahoo! BB, and NTT both have detailed terms to which you must agree in order to receive their services Those terms include all the usual fancy legal mumbo-jumbo you'll find in a contract with any large company except, of course, it's all in Japanese.

BBapply.com is operated by Zazm, Ltd., which is authorized to accept applications for Yahoo! BB and NTT services. It is not, however, a part of the Yahoo! BB or NTT web sites and this page was not created by SoftBank or NTT, has not been vetted by them, and should not be regarded as anything other than what it is: a good faith attempt to inform you of policies of those companies as understood by the management of Zazm, Ltd., and BBapply.

The information and translations herein are not official. Subscribers to the services offered herein should not regard this site as authoritative nor refer to it in case of any dispute that might arise with Yahoo! BB or NTT. If you want the official policies of those companies, you should consult their official web sites.

The official Yahoo! BB service terms are authoritative in all questions regarding Yahoo! BB policy, fees and services. NTT Group policy, fees and services are described on their respective web sites (NTT East and NTT West) and are also in accordance with government regulation.

Here are some of the more important details you should know about the terms of service

Yahoo! BB

Things You Should Know about Yahoo! BB applications

Official terms to which Yahoo! BB applications are subject are here. In particular, you should be aware that:

• AVAILABILITY
  Yahoo! BB may not work at your exact location even if the service is offered in your area.
  
  
• FUNCTION
  Environmental conditions beyond the control of Yahoo! BB may disrupt or prevent connection.
  
  
• ON-SITE SETUP
  On-site set-up is possible, but may not be offered for computers with English OS. Also, in any case, on-site visits will not be arranged until telephone help is attempted (Japanese only).
  
  
• FREE SERVICE PERIOD
  If the application qualifies for campaign benefits, the balance (only) of the starting month plus the following full month will be free. BBTV campaign benefits are for the first month only.
  
  
• SERVICE PERIOD CALCULATION
  The use period starts on the 8th day following connection at exchange building. This is the date that is used to determine the beginning of campaign benefits or billing. Therefore, if you are connected in the last week of a month, there will be no billing for that month nor will it be considered the first of the two months of free service.
  
  
• TOLL CHARGES FOR PHONE CALLS
  All calls made via BBPhone, including during any "free" period, will be charged at the regular established BBPhone rates.
  
  
• TERMINATION OF SERVICE
  Terminating service requires notification at least six working days before the end of the month and the modem and other equipment provided by Yahoo! BB must be returned at customer's expense. Services will be billed until the end of the month of cancellation regardless of the date of cancellation (i.e, no proration).
  
  
• BENEFIT LIMITATION
  Campaign benefits are available "one-time only" and that the one-time limitation is applied to the phone number and owner-of-record for that line. Benefits will not be available to users of company or school-supplied residential lines if a predecessor has obtained campaign benefits on that line.
  
  (In practice, the restriction is actually just six months. If it has been more than six months since the last service was ended, then the applicant will receive the benefits of a new user.)
  
  
• CONNECTION CHARGE
  The ¥5,040 NTT charge for making the ADSL installation will be paid by Yahoo! BB at connection time and then billed back to the user at the rate of 84 yen/month for 60 months, starting with the 3rd month after connection.
  
  
If you stop using the Yahoo! BB service before the 60-month payback period is completed, the prorated charges are forgiven--you do not have to pay the balance. Also, (if you qualify for the campaign, otherwise from the 1st month). Also, if you don't qualify for the campaign, the prorated charges will be charged from the 1st month).


• MISSED APPOINTMENTS
  In the case of new Yahoo! BB applications without NTT phone service, which always require installers to come out to make the connection, if you miss the appointment to meet them, there may be a fee of about ¥10,000 to reschedule.
  
  The missed appointment fee is charged because it is the actual cost of making the connection. Half of that amount is the NTT fee noted just above and the other half, which goes to the installer, is normally absorbed by Yahoo! BB. The cost is incurred twice when the appointment is missed so, the second time, the expense is passed on to the customer.

More things You Should Know about Yahoo! BB connections:

• CAMPAIGN BENEFITS
  *Details of "Two Months Free" Trial Campaign: "Two months" means the month of initial connection plus the following full month. Connections made mid-month will result in less than two full months of free service. If, however, the connection is made in the last week of the month, the following two full months will be free.
  
  Note also that while the service is completely free during the trial period, phone calls made using BBPhone (Yahoo's IP phone service), are NOT free. You will be billed for all calls. Also, BBTV charges are only free for the balance of 1st month of connection. See "Prices" link above for more info.
  
  
• SPEED OF CONNECTION
  The offered speeds are 'best effort' speeds. All DSL signals degrade due to distance from the telephone exchange and other factors so the actual speed you experience in most cases will be lower. BBTV service requires a minimum 'throughput' of 3 Mbps at your location. It is possible that the BBTV will not function at your location even if you ordered a faster service. For this reason, if you wish to use BBTV, it is recommended that you order the fastest ADSL service available at your location.
  
  
• BBTV
  If you apply for BBTV, Yahoo! BB will, within a few days after you have set up your modem and connected, check the actual speed that you are getting. If it is above 3 Mbps, they will send you the the "Set Top Box." If you do not have sufficient speed, you will receive a post card with regrets instead.
  
  For BBTV applicants, there is an additional Y6,300 charge for the BBTV connection. That charge is also prorated over 60 months (at ¥105/month) starting with the 3rd month.
  
  
• CONTRACT PERIOD
  There is no contract period and no penalty for canceling at any time. You are required to return the modem and other equipment at your expense. That usually will cost less around ¥1,500.
  
  
• WIRELESS LAN PACK
  When ordered with the 50M service, the wireless Router is IEEE 802.11g protocol (54 Mbps). When ordered with the 26M, 12M or 8M service, the wireless router is IEEE 802.11b protocol (11 Mbps). The Wireless LAN Packs also include, at no extra charge, either a (54 Mbps) USB 'stick' or a 54 Mbps PMCIA wireless LAN card with the 50M service.  When ordered with 26M/12M/8M service, it comes with either an 11 Mbps PMCIA card or an 11 Mbps USB 'stick.' The equipment supplied in the Pack may change from time to time, according to equipment availability.
  
  
• WIRELESS COMPATIBILITY
  The wireless router provided in the Wireless LAN Pack is compatible with Mac OS X, Mac 8.5 or later and Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP, including English systems but some configuration in Japanese may be necessary (instructions). Note: Mac OS 8.x requires Open Transport to be installed and OS 9 should be at least v. 9.0.4. The included wireless PC LAN USB "stick" and PMCIA card are compatible with Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP but installation of service pack upgrades may be necessary.
  
  IMPORTANT NOTE: The drivers for the computer-side wireless devices included with the wireless router may not work with an English-OS computers so users of English-OS computers who order the Wireless LAN Pack will need their their own computer-side wireless device. If your computer is not already wireless-enabled, English wireless devices may be purchased at outlets such as Users Side.
  
  All Wireless router and LAN card/stick items provided with the Wireless LAN Pack are rented and must be returned when service is terminated.
  
  
• ISDN USERS
  If your current telephone service is digital ISDN (a.k.a. INS-64), then the service must be converted to analog in order to work with Yahoo! BB. "Regular" (owned) ISDN lines may be converted to analog at the same time the ADSL connection is made. "ISDN Lite" lines (lines that are 'rented' not 'owned'), however, require an additional conversion step that may add as much as a week to the time required to get ADSL installed. (BBapply will help arrange the conversion. Just indicate the situation in a comments field on the application.)
  
  
• MONTHLY CHARGES
  Monthly charges listed on this site's Prices page include tax and all monthly fees collected by Yahoo! BB. The prices are, of course, subject to change and, while a good faith attempt is made to keep this site up to date, price changes may not be reflected on this site immediately. The Official Yahoo! BB Prices page is always authoritative.
  
  
• TAXES
  All prices shown on this web site include applicable taxes except the per-minute prices for phone calls. NTT fees, which are regulated by the government, are very complex. Depending on the situation at the customers site and services used, NTT charges may vary.
  
  
• CANCELLATION OF SERVICES
  The cancellation procedure takes about six working days and cancellations received too late to process before the end of the month may result in full charges for the next month. Therefore, if you wish to cancel and avoid payment for the next month, you should start the process by about the 20th. The BBapply FAQ has details on cancellation.

More fine print:

• BB TECHNOLOGY Corp. (BBT) will use the information you provide for the purpose of providing the requested services.
• By signing up for Yahoo! BB DSL services, you authorize BBT to proceed with application of connecting services such as DSL by proxy to NTT East or West. In the process of the proxy application, BBT may receive information regarding NTT services for which you have contracted. BBT will use such information only to effect the connection.
• SOFTBANK BB Corp. (SBB) will use the information you have provided in accordance with SBB's purposes in providing the requested services.
• If you request BBTV services, BB Cable Corporation (BBCA) will receive certain information you provide for the purpose of effecting and maintaining the BBTV connection.
  BB Modem Rental Inc. (BBMR) will receive certain information you provide for the purpose of modem rental.
• BBT will provide your email address to Market Face Co. Ltd., for marketing purposes. (You may of course filter their messages, which will all be in Japanese.)

 

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