Summary

  • Oracle’s private FastConnect virtual circuits carry no separate inbound or outbound data-transfer charge; Oracle bills port hours instead.
  • In the partner model, the billable item is the provisioned virtual circuit at its selected bandwidth. In a direct connection, it is the physical cross-connect. A provider or data-centre operator can add a separate bill.
  • Oracle’s price list sends public virtual circuits to the ordinary network-transfer schedule. The private-circuit rule cannot price every route out of OCI.

A network diagram can make a reserved circuit look like an arrow. Oracle’s bill sees a clock. Its FastConnect pricing says a private virtual circuit can move data without a separate charge per byte. The FAQ then identifies the billable thing: port hours. Once the relevant connection is provisioned, the rent can run while the traffic counter sits still.

The commercial shape depends on how the customer connects. Through a FastConnect partner, Oracle bills the virtual circuit according to the bandwidth selected. In a direct or co-located design, Oracle bills the physical cross-connect rather than each virtual circuit on it. The partner may bill separately for its bandwidth and other services; a data-centre provider may charge for the physical connection. There are at least two ledgers even before a packet crosses the cable.

The start line matters. Oracle says provider-model metering begins when the virtual circuit becomes Provisioned. For a direct cross-connect, its FAQ describes metering when it becomes provisioned or after 30 days from ordering, whichever occurs first. The charge continues while the port remains provisioned. The operator must terminate or delete the relevant connection to end that Oracle meter. A quiet circuit is therefore a capacity decision, not a free standby position.

Redundancy and geography multiply that decision. Oracle recommends two connections for resilience and says a single virtual circuit cannot reach two regions. A customer designing for two regions or two independent paths needs to count the additional port or circuit hours and any external connectivity bill. Oracle’s published 99.9% FastConnect service SLA applies to a redundant connection, giving the second line an operational purpose as well as a price.

The public/private split is easy to miss. The price list explicitly says private virtual circuits have no separate inbound or outbound transfer charge, while public virtual circuits follow the Networking transfer schedule. The first 10 TB of listed outbound transfer is free by originating geography, with charges above that threshold. An architect who labels every FastConnect route “unmetered data” has skipped the circuit type that determines the bill.

The missing number is a customer’s actual Oracle port rate plus its provider and cross-connect terms. Those contracts, alongside the chosen circuit topology, would put a price on an idle month. The published rule already supplies the harder lesson: moving fewer bytes does not stop a time-based connection charge.

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