This topic describes the billing method and billable items of connections over Express Connect circuits. You can connect your data center to Alibaba Cloud by using a dedicated connection or a hosted connection over an Express Connect circuit. Both dedicated connections and hosted connections are charged by Alibaba Cloud and third-party service providers.
- Dedicated connection: Use a dedicated Express Connect circuit to connect to Alibaba Cloud.
- Hosted connection: Use an Express Connect circuit pre-installed by an Express Connect partner to connect to Alibaba Cloud.
Billing of dedicated connections over Express Connect circuits
Billable items of dedicated connections over Express Connect circuits
| Charged by | Billable item | Description | Billing method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Third-party service provider | Optical fiber installation | The connectivity provider charges you for the leased Express Connect circuit. You
must contact the connectivity provider for the pricing of leasing an Express Connect
circuit to connect to Alibaba Cloud.
Note Most access points of Alibaba Cloud are deployed in colocation data centers. When
you install an Express Connect circuit in one of these data centers, you may need
to purchase cables from the colocation provider. The data center in the China (Zhangjiakou)
region and the data center where the Hangzhou-Yuhang-A access point is deployed are
owned and managed by Alibaba Cloud. When you install an Express Connect circuit in
your data center, the colocation provider of your data center may also charge you
for indoor cables.
|
One-off payment or subscription. |
| Indoor cable rental | |||
| Optical transceiver module | Alibaba Cloud provides 1 Gbit/s and 10 Gbit/s optical transceiver modules free of
charge. These optical transceiver modules support a maximum transmission distance
of 10 km. To use the following optical transceiver modules, you must purchase them
from a third party:
|
||
| Alibaba Cloud | Initial installation | Alibaba Cloud charges an initial installation fee for the Express Connect circuit. | A one-off payment of USD 1,500 for each Express Connect circuit.
Note Starting July 1, 2021, if you enable billing for outbound data transfer, you are not
charged an installation fee.
|
| Resource usage | Alibaba Cloud charges resource usage fees based on the specification of the Express Connect circuit. | Monthly subscription. For more information, see Resource usage fees for dedicated connections over Express Connect circuits. | |
| Outbound data transfer | Alibaba Cloud charges you for data transmitted through dedicated Express Connect circuits
from Alibaba Cloud to a data center.
You are charged for the outbound data transfer of all regions within your account. Outbound data transfer fee for a region = Unit price of outbound data transfer of the region × Total amount of outbound data transmitted through all Express Connect circuits in the region within the current account. Fees are calculated and bills are generated on an hourly basis. If you use the service for less than 1 hour, the usage duration is rounded up to 1 hour. Owners of Express Connect circuits must pay for outbound data transfer. |
Pay-by-data-transfer. For more information, see Outbound data transfer fees. | |
| VBR |
|
||
- By default, you cannot use your Alibaba Cloud account to create VBRs for other Alibaba Cloud accounts in regions within mainland China. The owner of an Express Connect circuit can Submit a ticket to Alibaba Cloud to apply for temporary permissions if the following requirements are met: The owner and user of the Express Connect circuit belong to the same enterprise. The owner has acquired the A26 license issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
- By default, you cannot use your Alibaba Cloud account to create VBRs for other Alibaba Cloud accounts in regions outside mainland China. The owner of an Express Connect circuit can Submit a ticket to Alibaba Cloud to apply for temporary permissions.
Resource usage fees for dedicated connections over Express Connect circuits
The resource usage fee varies based on the specification of the Express Connect circuit. The following table describes the pricing of different Express Connect circuit specifications.
| Express Connect circuit specification | Unit price of resource usage in regions within mainland China (USD/month) | Unit price of resource usage in regions outside mainland China (USD/month) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Gbit/s and below | 85 | 210 |
| 10 Gbps | 720 | 1,600 |
| 40 Gbps | 2,450 | 5,500 |
| 100 Gbps | 5,200 | 11,700 |
Billing of hosted connections over Express Connect circuits
Billable items of hosted connections over Express Connect circuits
| Charged by | Billable item | Description | Billing method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Third-party service provider | Optical fiber installation | If you want to use a hosted connection over an Express Connect circuit established by an Express Connect partner, you can contact the Express Connect partner for circuit prices. |
One-off payment. |
| Indoor cable rental | |||
| Alibaba Cloud | Resource usage | Alibaba Cloud charges resource usage fees based on the specification of the Express Connect circuit. | Monthly subscription. For more information, see Resource usage fees for hosted connections over Express Connect circuits. |
| Outbound data transfer fees | Alibaba Cloud charges you for data transmitted through shared Express Connect circuits
from Alibaba Cloud to a data center.
You are charged for the outbound data transfer of all regions within your account. Outbound data transfer fee for a region = Unit price of outbound data transfer of the region × Total amount of outbound data transmitted through all Express Connect circuits in the region within the current account. Fees are calculated and bills are generated on an hourly basis. If you use the service for less than 1 hour, the usage duration is rounded up to 1 hour. Owners of shared ports must pay for outbound data transfer. |
Pay-by-data-transfer. For more information, see Outbound data transfer fees. |
Resource usage fees for hosted connections over Express Connect circuits
The resource usage fee varies based on the specification of the Express Connect circuit. The following table describes the pricing of different Express Connect circuit specifications.
| Express Connect circuit specification | Unit price of resource usage in regions within mainland China (USD/month) | Unit price of resource usage in regions outside mainland China (USD/month) |
|---|---|---|
| 50 Mbps | 20 | 20 |
| 100 Mbps | 30 | 40 |
| 200 Mbps | 40 | 55 |
| 300 Mbps | 45 | 85 |
| 400 Mbps | 55 | 115 |
| 500 Mbps | 60 | 140 |
| 1 Gbps | 85 | 210 |
| 2 Gbps | 150 | 475 |
| 5 Gbps | 375 | 1,100 |
| 8 Gbps | 600 | 1,400 |
| 10 Gbps | 720 | 1,600 |
VBR fees
Users of Express Connect circuits must pay for VBRs. The VBR fee varies based on the specification of the VBR. The following table describes the pricing of different VBR specifications.
| Billable item | VBR specification | Unit price (USD/month) |
|---|---|---|
| VBR fee (mainland China) | 50 Mbps | 75 |
| 100 Mbps | 110 | |
| 200 Mbps | 150 | |
| 300 Mbps | 165 | |
| 400 Mbps | 175 | |
| 500 Mbps | 185 | |
| VBR fee (outside mainland China) | 50 Mbps | 20 |
| 100 Mbps | 40 | |
| 200 Mbps | 55 | |
| 300 Mbps | 80 | |
| 400 Mbps | 105 | |
| 500 Mbps | 125 |
Outbound data transfer fees
The outbound data transfer fee varies based on the region. The following table describes the pricing of outbound data transfer in different regions.
- If you enable outbound data transfer billing between 00:00:00 (UTC+8) on July 1, 2021 and 24:00:00 (UTC+8) on July 1, 2022, you can claim a free outbound data transfer plan. The system automatically uses your outbound data transfer plan to offset 50 TB of outbound data transfer each month. The validity period of the outbound data transfer plan is 12 months. For more information about how to enable billing for outbound data transfer, see Enable billing for outbound data transfer.
- Outbound data transfer plans apply to all regions. An outbound data transfer plan
is applied to a region whichever outbound data transfer occurs.
For example, 100 TB of data is transferred in the China (Beijing) region. Then, 80 TB of data is transferred in the US (Virginia) region. In this case, the free data transfer plan is used to offset 50 TB of data transfer in the China (Beijing) region.
| Area | Region | Unit price (USD/GB) |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland China | China (Hangzhou), China (Shanghai), China (Qingdao), China (Beijing), China (Zhangjiakou), China (Hohhot), China (Ulanqab), China (Shenzhen), China (Heyuan), China (Guangzhou), and China (Chengdu) | 0.0125 |
| Asia Pacific | China (Hong Kong), China (Taiwan), Singapore (Singapore), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Japan (Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul), and Philippines (Manila) | 0.0390 |
| Indonesia (Jakarta) | 0.0780 | |
| Australia (Sydney) | 0.0399 | |
| Europe & Americas | US (Silicon Valley), US (Virginia), Germany (Frankfurt), and UK (London) | 0.0190 |
| Russia (Moscow) | 0.0910 | |
| Middle East & India | UAE (Dubai) | 0.0855 |
| India (Mumbai) | 0.0427 |
Example of outbound data transfer billing
You have two data centers. One is located in the China (Beijing) region, the other is located in the US (Virginia) region. You want to use an Express Connect circuit to connect the data center in the China (Beijing) region to an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance in a virtual private cloud (VPC) deployed in the China (Beijing) region. You also want to connect the data center in the US (Virginia) region to an ECS instance in a VPC deployed in the US (Virginia) region. After you use the same Alibaba Cloud account to establish connections over Express Connect circuits in these regions, data is transmitted through the connections from Alibaba Cloud to the data centers. 100 TB of data is transferred in the China (Beijing) region per month. Then, 80 TB of data is transferred in the US (Virginia) region per month.
- Starting from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, you are charged the following outbound
data transfer fees per month:
- China (Beijing):USD 0.0125/GB × (100 - 50) × 1,000 GB = USD 625
- US (Virginia):USD 0.0190/GB × 80 × 1,000 GB = USD 1,520
Total amount =USD 625 + USD 1,520 = USD 2,145
- Starting July 1, 2022, you are charged the following outbound data transfer fees per
month:
- China (Beijing):USD 0.0125/GB × 100 × 1,000 GB = USD 1,250
- US (Virginia):USD 0.0190/GB × 80 × 1,000 GB = USD 1,520
Total amount =USD 1,250 + USD 1,520 = USD 2,770