Plusnet was one of the first ISPs in the UK to use network quality of service (QoS) techniques, which it introduced in November 2004, in order to control the finite data bandwidth available to them at peak times. This move was a reaction to the cost of bandwidth, £210 per Mbit/s per month in November 2006 for ISPs using the BT Wholesale network. Critics have suggested that the decision to employ QoS on the network was driven by Plusnet's focus on delivering to tight profit targets dictated by investors during the time when they were a public limited company (plc). Plusnet replaced its QoS technique with a Sustainable Usage Policy (SUP) in 2005.
