Rumors Say Alibaba Cloud Drive to Start Charging for Storage Expansion
Alibaba Cloud Drive, created by Alibaba, launched its public beta in March of this year in an effort to offer free personal network disk space with unlimited download speeds. The move was highly appreciated by users. However, news has emerged recently that the company will start to charge for storage expansion.
According to feedback from netizens, Alibaba Cloud’s official store on Taobao has put up a space expansion code, which normally allows users to enjoy higher capacity every year. Now, users will be charged 108 yuan per year to access 200GB worth of storage space.
Onenetizen said that he received a coupon worth 107 yuan, which means the one-year access to 200GB space cost him only 1 yuan. However, at present, Alibaba Cloud’s official store has taken the product down from its shelves.
In addition, the introduction of paid storage space expansion may only cater to some users with large capacity demand, not for everyone.
At present, Alibaba Cloud Drive has retained super-large capacity for alpha test users. The feature can be enjoyed permanently only by logging in once a year. Many users have a capacity of more than 3TB, which is usually enough to meet everyday demands.
SEE ALSO: Two Days after Releasing its Beta Version, Alibaba Cloud Drive Soars in Popularity
However, in early November, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice that clearly stated that netdisk enterprises should clearly indicate the features users can access with their subscriptions. Among those features, the Ministry mentioned storage space, transmission rates, functionality and tariff levels, and others. Under the same network conditions, the minimum upload and download rates provided free to users should ensure basic download needs. Therefore, Alibaba Cloud Drive’s advantage is no longer as great as it once was.
