Azure Internet egress fee wavier for academic customers

 

Fantastic news for Azure education customers in North America and Europe (Zone 1) today. The Azure team announced that Internet egress charges will be waived for academic customers.

Here is a quick FAQ on the offering:

 

What is Internet egress in Azure?

We do not charge for Internet ingress which is data coming into Azure but we do charge customers for Internet egress which is data coming out of Azure. This announcement today means we won’t charge academic customers for Internet egress (data coming out of Azure) provided your institution meets the eligibility requirements below.

 

What do I have to do to be eligible for this waiver?

You must be an Enrollment for Education Solutions (EES) education customer to be eligible.

 

Any caveats?

Yes, the egress charges must be less than 15% of the total monthly consumption bill for it to be eligible for waiver. In addition, this waiver also excludes customers using egress-as-a-service applications like MOOCs, web hosting and media streaming.

 

How do I enable this Internet egress waiver?

The good news is nothing beyond the eligibility above is required to obtain this waiver. There are no additional contracts or agreements required to be signed.

 

When does it go into effect?

It slated to start on the May billing cycle where the egress charges will be removed.

 

Can I use this egress waiver with ExpressRoute and/or CDN traffic?

ExpressRoute and CDN egress traffic are not eligible for this Internet egress waiver.