Charges to a Hologram SIM come from one of three different areas: the monthly recurring charge (or "MRC," our monthly active SIM charge), data usage, and the outbound SMS rate.
Monthly per SIM recurring charge
The monthly recurring charge includes the monthly active per SIM charge required by our global carriers to maintain the network and access your devices, and your access to Hologram's services. This per SIM charge is billed on a 30-day cycle beginning on the day the SIM is activated. For Pay monthly data plans with prepaid data included in the plan, this charge includes the plan's data cost. Only overages are charged at the specified data rate.
Note: Paused SIMs still pay the monthly recurring charge to maintain access to Hologram's network so that they can resume data usage in the future. A SIM must be permanently deactivated in order to stop monthly recurring charges.
Data usage
The data usage rate is what you pay for data usage on the network. Data is billed by the kilobyte. This data rate applies to all data usage on a pay as you go basis for our Pay as you go data plans, and only to overages on Pay monthly data plans and Data Pools.
If a device uses more than $0.00 worth of data but less than $0.25 in a billing period, it will be charged for usage at the end of the billing period.
Data usage is charged at the end of a closed session. If a session extends beyond a SIM's billing period, charges will carry over to the next billing period when the session closes.
Data usage can also be limited by setting data limits on a SIM.
Note: Network-level billing is available to organizations with an annual contract for the best rates on the networks you use most often. Reach out to our sales team today to learn more.
Outbound SMS
We only charge for outbound SMS messages originating from a device, at a flat rate per outbound SMS message. Please visit https://www.hologram.io/pricing for our current prices.
Inbound SMS messages and messages sent via our Hologram Cloud API are always free.
All SIM charges
The breakdown of charges per SIM can be seen below:
| Charge type | Description | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly recurring charge | The base monthly active SIM cost to reserve access for a SIM on the network and provide platform access. | Every 30 days at the start of the SIM's billing period. |
| Data usage rate | Cost to send internet data on our network from your device, billed per KB at session close. |
Pay as you Go plans: Real-time at the end of closed sessions with a minimum incremental charge of $0.25. Pay Monthly plans and Data Pools: Only applies to overage data, which is billed the same way as Pay as you Go plans. |
| Outbound SMS | Device-originated outbound SMS messages are charged. Inbound SMS and SMS via our Cloud API are free. | Time the message is sent. |
You can view specific plan information on our pricing page.
Note: SIMs on data plans with data pools or SIMs that subscribe to a phone number may incur separate charges for those services.