MySQL Cuts Database Costs by More than $400,000 for Matanuska Telephone Association

Fifty years ago, Alaska residents founded the Matanuska Telephone Association (MTA), a cooperative to bring much-needed phone service to the Matanuska-Susitna and Eagle River Valleys. That fledgling company evolved into the largest telephone company in the state, serving more than 38,000 members over a 10,000 square mile area and delivering communications services that include wireless, high-speed Internet, long distance and business communications systems.

It stands to reason that the largest communications provider in the largest U.S. state employs large databases to keep communications flowing smoothly through the frozen north. According to Rich Allen, traffic administrator for MTA, the company relies on MySQL®, the world's most popular open source database, to track traffic and equipment, manage billing, issue reports --including those required by the government -- and other mission-critical functions.

"MySQL is one of the best moves we've made to improve operational efficiency and productivity," says Allen. "For example, queries on our old database would bog down once it exceeded 100,000 records. They would take hours, if they could be done at all. Now, queries complete in seconds, as they should."

Currently, MySQL 4.0 runs on five Apple Xserves, two G3s and a G4, all running Mac OS 10. There is also a single Windows XP server. The databases range in size from 10 to 75 tables. The largest table comprises more than 30 million records.

That 30-million-record billing database clearly demonstrates the benefits that MySQL delivers to MTA. In addition to the order of magnitude increase in query speed, the popular database also saves money. The commercial solution that Allen considered carried a price tag of $400,000. The MySQL solution required a little PERL code and a hardware investment of $30,000 - period.

The billing database also supports many of MTA's Intranet applications, including one that is vital to the company's economic health and, in some instances, the customers' physical health. If a subscriber doesn't pay a bill within the required time frame, the customer service representative goes online and enters the delinquent phone number, calling up the correct account from the MySQL database. With a few keystrokes, class-of-service is changed, blocking incoming calls and allowing only two outgoing calls -- 911 emergency calls, and a call to the MTA service bureau to restore service.

Other key applications involve tracking equipment usage. PERL provides the interaction between MySQL and the telephone equipment, and delivers the resulting data to the appropriate MySQL databases. From there, the data is analyzed and turned into a variety of different reports, some for internal use, some in response to demands from long distance carriers and government. The internal reports are available via the MTA Web site, and have increased productivity in many areas, according to Allen.

Productivity, speed and cost aside, Allen is probably most impressed with the stability and reliability of his MySQL databases.

"I've got MySQL running on about a dozen boxes, and none of them has ever failed since MySQL was installed more than 18 months ago," says Allen. "This kind of stability means that I don't have to worry constantly about database crashes, and then scramble to fix everything if one happens. It's peace of mind."

In the future, Allen plans to develop network management applications using MySQL.