Key facts
| API compatibility | OpenAI-compatible chat, embeddings and function calling |
| Deployment | VPC in AWS, Azure or GCP via Helm chart and Terraform module |
| Network | Private endpoint with no public ingress |
| Encryption and keys | Customer-managed KMS (AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, GCP KMS) |
| Models | 30+ models; bring your own model registry and bucket |
| Observability | Logs, metrics and traces stay in your SIEM |
| Updates | Signed model and control-plane bundles applied on your cadence |
| Pricing | Flat monthly self-serve plans; Enterprise terms for VPC |
TL;DR
- The full control plane runs in your AWS, Azure or GCP account.
- No public ingress: the API is reachable only from your network.
- Your KMS keys and your model registry; weights stay in your bucket.
- Internal automation and subscriber-facing AI run with residency, scale and auditability in view.
- Region-locked managed planes remain available when you do not need a VPC.
How it works, step by step
- Confirm which workloads move first and which must stay in a dedicated deployment.
- Prepare networking: private subnets, endpoints and no public ingress.
- Create KMS keys and a bucket for model weights and artifacts.
- Apply the Helm chart or Terraform module for AWS, Azure or GCP.
- Connect identity, logging and monitoring to your existing systems.
- Run acceptance tests and replay your prompts and evaluations.
- Enable signed update delivery and cut over with a rollback path ready.
Try it yourself
Open the GPU capacity calculator →
Why telcos use a VPC deployment
Telcos operate at network scale with strict availability targets and regulated subscriber data. AI is both an internal efficiency play and a product: bundled services, branded assistants and new revenue per subscriber.
For telcos, the deciding question is where the data sits: subscriber data and network telemetry. A shared public endpoint pushes that decision into contracts and configuration; a VPC deployment puts the API inside the network boundary you already control, with your subnets, your identity provider and your logging. That is the difference between trusting a vendor's region and knowing the traffic never leaves your account.
What the Plugsky VPC architecture includes
Plugsky ships a Helm chart and Terraform module for AWS, Azure and GCP. The control plane installs inside your cloud account and the OpenAI-compatible API is exposed on a private endpoint with no public ingress. You supply a customer-managed KMS key for encryption at rest, and model weights live in your own bucket and registry. Logs, metrics and traces stay in your SIEM, and model and control-plane updates arrive as signed bundles you apply on your maintenance cadence with rollback.
When a full rollout is more than the workload needs, the same API runs in region-locked Plugsky planes with residency guarantees. For distributed operations, keep one primary plane for consumer traffic and a dedicated deployment for regulated enterprise customers.
Controls to wire in from day one
Controls worth wiring in from the first deployment:
- Pin the data plane to the region your regulator expects and document the data path.
- Keep keys and audit logs under telco control, with SIEM integration.
- Size capacity for peak-hour inference and test p95 latency from the network, not the office.
- Use per-tenant limits so consumer and enterprise traffic cannot starve each other.
Deploy, measure, then cut over
Internal automation and subscriber-facing AI run with residency, scale and auditability in view. The sequence is reversible: prepare the account and network, create keys and a weights bucket, apply the module, connect identity and observability, replay evaluations, then switch the base URL behind a flag. Latency is a trade-off: closer planes shorten the path, but strict boundaries can add round-trip time, so measure p50 and p95 from your own environment.
Chat, streaming, JSON mode, function calling, embeddings, RAG and agents are live; audio, images, moderation, files, batch, fine-tuning, assistants and responses are coming soon, so label those early. Self-serve plans are flat monthly with unlimited fair-use usage and no per-token billing; current plans are on the pricing page. Start with the free plan, then the 14-day full-access trial.
Honest comparison
| Factor | Plugsky VPC deployment | Region-locked Plugsky cloud | Building in-house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data location | Your cloud account | Plugsky region you pin | Your data centre |
| Public ingress | None — private endpoint | Public API endpoint | Depends on your build |
| Key custody | Your KMS (AWS, Azure, GCP) | Vendor-managed; BYOK on Enterprise | Your HSM |
| Models | 30+ models, bring your own registry | 30+ managed models | You host and maintain each model |
| Updates | Signed bundles on your cadence | Managed by Plugsky | Your release engineering |
| Time to production | Days to weeks | Minutes | Weeks to months |
Frequently asked questions
Can the deployment handle carrier-scale traffic?
Capacity depends on the deployment you choose and the models you run. Size the VPC for peak-hour inference, test p95 from your network, and scale with load balancers and replicas.
How do we keep subscriber data in-region?
Pin the data plane to the region that satisfies your regulator, or run the deployment in your own VPC, on-prem or air-gapped environment with your keys.
Can we keep using the OpenAI SDK?
Yes. Plugsky exposes an OpenAI-compatible chat completions endpoint, so you change the base URL and model name and keep your existing SDK code, prompts and evaluations.
Is there a free plan?
Yes — the free plan includes plugsky-micro and plugsky-lite with no credit card. A 14-day full-access trial is available when you want to evaluate larger models.
How is pricing structured?
Self-serve plans are flat monthly with unlimited fair-use usage and no per-token billing. See the live pricing page for current plans.
Which capabilities are live today?
Chat, streaming, JSON mode, function calling, embeddings, RAG and agents are live; audio, images, moderation, files, batch, fine-tuning, assistants and responses are coming soon — check the docs before planning those workloads.
How is a VPC deployment priced?
VPC runs as an Enterprise engagement with terms agreed with the team; self-serve flat monthly plans cover the managed plane. See the live pricing page for current plans.
Who operates the deployment?
You run the infrastructure; Plugsky maintains the platform software and delivers signed updates for you to apply.