After Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced last year unlimited OneDrive storage for Office 365, several users took for their advantage this free space. But now, the company broadcasted on Monday that it would no longer provide the unlimited service and will provide a limit of 1TB storage space for Office 365 Home, Personal, and University subscribers.
The unlimited space was part of the storage war against Dropbox and Google to win consumers. It did win Microsoft lots of new OneDrive customers but the company alleged that a small number of users backed up excessive storage usage of about 14,000 times the average which caused them to rethink their free service.
“Instead of focusing on extreme backup scenarios, we want to remain focused on delivering high-value productivity and collaboration experiences that benefit the majority of OneDrive users” the OneDrive blog read.
In the meantime, while this change goes into effect, users will get a 12 month period to get rid of the excess of data out of OneDrive. The company explained to their customers that anyone who only wanted Office 365 for the limitless OneDrive storage can ask for a pro-rated refund of their subscription.
Microsoft also explained that starting next year, free users who use a 15GB storage will be cut down to 5GB and that the company is discontinuing the 15GB camera roll storage. On the other hand, 100GB and 200GB OneDrive’s paid plans will be priced at $1.99 and $3.99 per month respectively.
As the company has described it, OneDrive was designed to be a basic storage method and it was clear that developers miscalculated the average space each user would take up. They will continue to develop new improvements to expand their platform.
“These changes are needed to ensure that we can continue to deliver a collaborative, connected, and intelligent service. They will allow us to continue to innovate and make OneDrive the best option for people who want to be productive and do more.” the blog also stated.
Source: The OneDriveBlog