Billing and Charging

We have adopted a simple and straightforward approach to charging - based fairly on what we are charged by our operator partners.

Whereas some providers charge for bundles of data - where traffic is charged-for whether it is used or not - we prefer to keep our charges aligned with those which apply to us. As our costs vary - such as reductions based on market dynamics or increased volumes - this allows us to pass these savings on to our customers.

Each stacuity customer account has a balance, from which charges are debited. Once this balance is depleted, you will need to top it up to continue using the platform. You can top-up your account at any time.

Credit applied to your account expires eventually (normally after 2 years - although promotional credit might expire more quickly). As you add credit (such as by topping-up), the expiry of each 'pot' of credit is tracked previously. We will always use credit in the order it is due to expire.

This balance is per-account, not per-endpoint. If you have multiple endpoints in your account, they all share this single account balance - and the account balance will reduce as the endpoints are used.

When you buy a stacuity SIM, it may come bundled with an amount of credit. This credit is added into your customer account at the time it is activated (see Activate an Endpoint).

The charges fall into three categories:

• Monthly endpoint charges
• Network access charges
• Usage/consumption charges

Monthly Endpoint Charges

A monthly charge applies for every Endpoint in your account which is marked as 'Active'. This charge is deducted from your account in advance and covers the coming month. Endpoints which are not marked as 'Active' will not be charged - so if you suspend an endpoint during the period, you won't be charged for the next period. If you subsequently reactivate an endpoint, charging will recommence from the moment of reactivation.

The monthly cycle for each Endpoint applies from the moment it is activated, so if you have multiple Endpoints in your account, they monthly charges will apply at different times. If there is insufficient credit in your account to cover the charges, your endpoints will not be usable.

Network Access Charges

For some networks, we are charged a fee for each endpoint which access the network during the month - as shown on our current price list. For such networks, the first time an endpoint transfers data using the network this charge will be applied covering network access for the coming month. If an endpoint uses several networks in the month, several such charges will be applied.

The network access charges vary per network - so if you want to limit or control this cost, you can create an Operator Policy.

If there is insufficient credit on your account to cover the network access charge, then the endpoint will not be able to connect to a new network.

Usage/consumption charges

You will be charged for the data transferred based on the rates shown in our price list. The charges based on the network and the type of data/services - such as cellular data or SMS messages.

For cellular data, the billing increment also varies per network - for example, some networks charge in 10Kb blocks, other 100Kb and so on.

A minimum billed amount (in terms of bytes) is applied to each distinct data session established by an endpoint. This differs depending on the network and is shown in the tariff.

When a session ends, and the endpoint disconnects from the network, the final charge is rounded-up to the nearest penny (GBP tariffs), Euro cent (EUR tariffs) or US cent (USD tariffs).

Credit Reservations

When a data session starts, we will reserve credit from your account to cover the initial data which might be passed. As the session progresses, we will 'commit' these charges (deducting from your account) and obtain further reservations - and so on. When the data session ends, we will charge for any final usage - and then release any reserved credit which wasn't used. If, in this process, there is insufficient credit on your account to obtain a reservation, then the session will be suspended.

The amount of credit we will reserve from your account depends on the location of the endpoint (and hence the cost of data and billing increment) and how much credit you have on your account. If you have a large number of endpoints with active data sessions, more account credit will be required in order to cover the reservations required.

One-shot Charges

For event-based charges, such as SMS, the charges will be applied individually - and if there is insufficient credit, the event will be rejected.