Verizon’s New Online Master Terms Highlight Risks of Online Service Agreements

Enterprise customers beware: What’s in your contract may not determine what happens with your actual service.
No Jitter (www.nojitter.com)
Justin Castillo

Service guides and other Internet-based agreements that “supplement” a customer’s contract are among the most challenging aspects of network services agreements. They allow carriers to change existing provisions unilaterally and impose potentially costly (and risky) terms and conditions with little or no notice, thereby giving carriers enormous power to change a deal. And service guides are moving targets: A customer can override problematic provisions a, b, and c, but what happens if the carrier adds d, e, and f to the guide after signing the master services agreement (MSA)?