Plusnet Achieves Continuous Availability of AAA Services with MySQL Cluster and FreeRADIUS

Plusnet has had some recent publicity in technology circles in a Case study published by MySQL / Sun.  The Case study covers the use of MySQL Cluster as the backend database to support the Authentication, Authorisation and Accounting services which are fundamental to ensuring secure and controlled access to the Network.

Plusnet upgraded their AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting) platform to the FreeRADIUS server and MySQL Cluster database in order to address increased demands resulting from:

• rapid service proliferation over fixed and wireless networks
• a quickly growing user base
• The need for continuous network access and accounting demanded by more stringent SLAs

Since deployment a year ago the new MySQL Cluster and FreeRADIUS AAA platform has provided:

• Continuously available AAA services
• Accurate billing and revenue assurance by maintaining data integrity in real-time
• Accelerated time to market of new services with less cost and complexity due to built-in database redundancy and automated self-healing
• New levels of flexibility to scale RADIUS servers independently of their database
• Higher levels of infrastructure and management efficiency resulting from consolidation of multiple databases

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The Usergroup offer their congratulations to Plusnet in gaining this recognition.

The full story including Network diagrams is available from the Case Study pages on the Sun MySQL site:  http://www.mysql.com/why-mysql/case-studies/mysql_cs_plusnet.php

uSwitch has recently published a survey of User satisfaction with support costs for calling a range of ISP's.  Plusnet does quite well in comparison with many of its peers

                                   Table 2

Provider	Technical support rating	Cost for average call	Average time on hold
AOL	52%	92p	6 minutes
BT	55%	Free	6 minutes
Orange	42%	90p	4 minutes
O2	75%	Free	2 minutes
Plusnet	70%	Free from Plusnet line 67p	5 minutes
Sky	60%	Free from Sky Talk line 89p from  BT line	6 minutes
TalkTalk	56%	Free	12 minutes
Tiscali	47%	91p from Tiscali line £1.75 from BT line	5 minutes
Virgin Media	56%	Free from Virgin line 67p from BT line	5 minutes
AVERAGE	55%	96p	6 minutes

Plusnet entry corrected by PUG to reflect recent change.

A precis of some of the notes in the survey:

Data sourced from a YouGov survey on behalf of uSwitch.com in February 2009. Sample size was 12,054 adults. The survey was carried out online.

Data is unweighted. Specific reporting of results published for suppliers that received 200 or more responses.

1. AOL, Orange, Plusnet and Tiscali customers have to pay to call broadband technical support lines. Based on company customers this adds up to at least 5.45 million customers. According to YouGov survey 38% of broadband customers have called their technical helpline over the last 12 months, an average of 2.89 times each. Applied to 5.45 million customers, this is 16 million calls. Average length of call to technical helplines is 17 minutes according to YouGov survey. Average cost of 96p per call calculated as per table 2. Customers are therefore paying £5,760,000 calling technical helplines each year.
2. 38% of broadband customers have called their technical helpline over the last 12 months and average of 2.89 times each. Based on 15 million broadband customers (Ofcom August 2008) this is 16.5 million calls.

For more complete information visit the uSwitch web site www.uswitch.com/news/communications/uswitch-broadband-customers-foot-the-bill-for-assistance-19410179/

~ unlimited broadband - from myth to reality ~

We report this morning in the wake of what could be Plusnet's most talked about product refresh ever, as "Unlimited" sees a return to the residential sales pages.

Three products are key to the new line-up - replacing the nearly-2 year old 'Broadband Your Way' product range.  Plusnet also become the first non-LLU ISP to introduce geographical pricing. This means keener prices are available to customers connected to the busier telephone exchanges - resulting in stiffer competition with LLU.  In quite a change to the 'norm' for Plusnet, the launch also sees the introduction of 18 month and 12 month commitments - and the removal of monthly contracts altogether.

Here's a quick run-down of the new offering :-

Plusnet Value - 10Gb included usage - "The UK's cheapest broadband"
£5.99 (price for first 3 months)
£5.99 per month thereafter (market 3 exchanges) - £11.99 per month thereafter (remaining exchanges)
Bandwidth intensive protocols rate limited (24/7 in some cases)
18 month minimum-term commitment
25p referral value

Plusnet Unlimited - Unlimited usage
£11.99 (price for first 3 months)
£15.99 per month thereafter (market 3 exchanges) - £19.99 per month thereafter (remaining exchanges)
Bandwidth intensive protocols rate limited during busy parts of the day - 24/7 2Mbps Rate Limit on VPN / SSH
18 month minimum-term commitment
50p referral value

Plusnet Pro - 15Gb included usage
£19.99 per month
(no market 3 pricing or initial 3 month offer)
All traffic prioritised as per current Pro product
12 month minimum-term commitment
50p referral value

Additional usage can be added to Value and Pro, but only in 2Gb blocks which cost £2 each.  All additional usage is post-paid, there is no pre-pay option on these new products.

The inclusion of an "Unlimited" product will likely come as a shock to some, as it did to us, because Plusnet have in the past been quite vocal on their thoughts regarding unsustainable "Unlimited" broadband being a 'myth'.  There is no "Fair Usage Policy" with Plusnet Unlimited but Plusnet do insist they can offer this sustainably.  With the management of bandwidth intensive activities such as P2P or Binary USENET, combined with the prospects of 21CN access in late 2009 / 2010, Plusnet are confident the product will perform well.  Only time will tell as to how the network will cope but Plusnet seem sure that the product will "do what it says on the tin" - with the 18 month tie-in - we certainly hope so!

More about market 3
The prices charged by BT Wholesale to Broadband Providers in the UK have historically been fixed by the regulator, Ofcom.  However, in some areas, Ofcom deem that there is now sufficient enough competition from other operators (those with their own equipment in the telephone exchange) to 'de-regulate' the pricing - meaning that BT Wholesale are free to negotiate their own pricing on an individual basis with each ISP (or rather - the other way round!).   These exchanges are known as "Market 3" exchanges.  You can find out if your exchange is a Market 3 exchange by using: Kitz's Line Checker at http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/adslchecker.php; www.samknows.com; or by using the updated line checker on the Plusnet website.  Because in these areas Plusnet have been able to negotiate reduced prices with BT Wholesale, they can pass additional savings on to customers connected to these exchanges. You can read more about this over on Kitz's website.

Product movements
Unlike the current Broadband Your Way Products which are based on monthly contracts and allow you to switch every 30 days, the new products carry commitments which may be restarted or carried forward depending on the change you wish to make. 

Product downgrades will involve the restart of the 18 month commitment whilst product upgrades will retain your existing agreement (and it won't restart).  So if you upgrade from Value to Unlimited or Unlimited to Pro, you will remain on your initial 18 month contract.  If you downgrade from Pro to Unlimited, or Unlimited to Value, however, a new 18 month commitment will start from the day of the downgrade.  Existing users who wish to switch to one of the new options will, unfortunately, be required to enter into the minimum-term commitment just as new users do.

It should be noted, though, that Plusnet will cover the cost of one free house-move under these commitments.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts over on the forums!

See also :-

• Plusnet Community Site
• Plusnet Homepage
• Product Comparison Tool