According to the help guide it is possible for Open street Maps to be available offline. I'd appreciate more information on the following:
1) What is the effect on the transactional cost of using the MapQuest API when the maps are offline as there is a cost associated with this ?
2) Are there any limitations to consider when deploying a solution using the offline vs online Open street Maps ?
When using your own private maps server, then DataMiner Maps won't make any online request, so the MapQuest API won't be used and is not needed, there is no cost except the cost of running and maintaining your own private maps server.
A private maps server is interesting when DataMiner Maps is used by a limited amount of users, within a secured private network, where there might not even be Internet access available.
Using an online service like MapQuest or Google Maps is more interesting when a lot of users are making use of DataMiner Maps (for example when integrating it in a web portal), Internet access is obviously required, and you don't have to worry about securing your servers, load-balancing, hardware, updates, maintenance, energy, etc, as it is making use of the map render servers of MapQuest or Google. Using these online services might involve transaction costs.