Next Generation Internet Bandwidth Markets

Telecommunications Policy, 2003

This article compares and contrasts two technologies for delivering broadband wireless Internet access services: ''3G'' vs. ''WiFi''. The former, 3G, refers to the collection of third-generation mobile technologies that are designed to allow mobile operators to offer integrated data and voice services over mobile networks. The latter, WiFi, refers to the 802.11b wireless Ethernet standard that was designed to support wireless LANs. Although the two technologies reflect fundamentally different service, industry, and architectural design goals, origins, and philosophies, each has recently attracted a lot of attention as candidates for the dominant platform for providing broadband wireless access to the Internet. It remains an open question as to the extent to which these two technologies are in competition or, perhaps, may be complementary. If they are viewed as in competition, then the triumph of one at the expense of the other would be likely to have profound implications for the evolution of the wireless Internet and structure of the service-provider industry. r

Telecommunications Policy, 2003

Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 2002

The evolution of broadband services will depend on the widespread deployment of optical networks. The deployment of such networks will, in turn, help drive increased demand for additional capacity. In this world, service providers will have a growing need to be able to flexibly adjust capacity to accommodate uncertain and growing demand.

Technological Forecasting and Social …, 2002

2003

Abstract This paper provides an in-depth analysis of technological and market issues that will impact the development of bandwidth trading markets with liquidity. We provide a very broad definition for a bandwidth trading agreement and we analyze several network topologies in which trading bandwidth would make sense both from a business perspective and a technical perspective.

2001

This paper asks is whether (i) 3rd generation wireless services, as embodied in the planned and soon to be offered services emerging first in Asia and Europe, or (ii) the unlicensed wireless services such as 802.11 or wi-fi but also including more advanced wideband and ultrawideband (UWB) services which are being experimented with primarily in North America, offer more compelling visions for advanced wireless services. we conclude that secondary spectrum markets are important for the viability of the 3G industry, and not only ...

Cognitive Wireless Networks, 2007

European Management Journal, 2011

The increasing demand for real-time applications (video conferencing, Internet telephony -VoIP-etc.) delivered over Internet networks requires stringent Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. Internet traffic routing based on a Best-effort basis can hardly support these QoS requirements. This article argues that Internet services providers should form strategic alliances to coordinate their investments in a newgeneration infrastructure and provide innovative services with QoS guarantees. This is supported by a topological analysis of the interconnection agreements among top-level Internet providers and by the lessons derived from alliances forged in the airline and card-based payment sectors. We conclude that on the Internet, the optimal organizational form should be a centralized alliance with a hub-and-spoke network structure.

2004

Two trends are converging: growing interest in municipal networking as a response to perceived market failure (inadequate investment/competition in broadband last mile facilities); and revitalized interest in wireless lastmile technologies (BFWA, WiFi, 3G). Historically, the justification for municipal provisioning of "last mile" infrastructure has focused on the natural monopoly aspect of wireline infrastructure (e.g., FTTH or small size of market). Growing interest in WISPs, municipal hot spots, and access to public buildings/space for siting base stations suggest new and expanded opportunities or roles for community ownership of last-mile services. It is clear that wireless technology changes the economics of deploying last mile infrastructure, but it is less clear what this means for public policy towards local community provisioning initiatives. This paper examines the implications of emerging wireless technologies for the policy debate over whether municipalities should be playing an active role in providing last mile broadband services, and if so, what the nature of that role should be. Public involvement in provisioning last mile infrastructure will have a direct impact on private sector competition. We provide evidence of emerging trends and a framework to help structure the policy debate. Our analysis shows that the case for a public role is complex and that the optimal policy is likely to depend critically on the type of wireless infrastructure that is being deployed and the objectives for the system.

2004

To assess the growth options and business potential of MVNO models in Europe.

Proceeding of the TPRC conference, 2004

A growing number of communities in the United States and abroad are investing in publicly-owned “last-mile” broadband infrastructure platforms to deliver telephone, video, and broadband data services. In a number of jurisdictions, policy-makers have chosen to insist that municipalities interested in offering communication services over publicly-owned infrastructure must do so on a wholesale-only basis, providing open access to multiple retail service providers. To gain a better understanding of the challenges and implications of ...

Presented at the MIT ITC Workshop on Internet Quality …, 1999

Internet traffic, as epitomized by Web browsing behavior, is very bursty, or equivalently, the ratio of the peak to average data rate is quite high. To handle the offered traffic, the network must be sized to handle the peak load. Because the peaks of individual users are typically uncorrelated, the network peak load grows much more slowly than the sum of the peak loads of the individual subscribers whose traffic is carried by the network. This implies there are provisioning scale economies associated with aggregating traffic. That is, service providers that are able to aggregate the traffic of a larger number of users are likely to have lower capital and operating costs and there may be a minimum efficient scale of operation for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). In the current environment where users are accustomed to a relatively poor grade of service (i.e., long packet delays are tolerated) and when most users access the Internet via dial-up modems that limit the possible peak to average load ratio, the impact of these scale economies on industry structure are likely to be small. However, with increased quality of service (QoS) expectations (e.g., addition of delay-intolerant real-time services) and the spread of broadband services offering the potential for much higher peak to average load ratios, the provisioning problem may grow in importance. Although models of aggregate traffic flows have been developed and others have speculated about the nature of interconnection agreements across the Internet hierarchy ], we are unaware of any work that attempts to argue from traffic characteristics to industry structure.

Government Information Quarterly, 2006

Historically, the justification for municipal provisioning of “last-mile” communications infrastructure has focused on the natural monopoly aspect of wireline infrastructure. Growing interest in wireless ISPs, municipal hot spots, and access to public space for siting wireless infrastructure suggests new and expanded opportunities for local government participation in telecommunication services. This paper examines the implications of emerging wireless technologies for the policy debate over whether municipalities should be playing an active role in providing last-mile broadband services and, if so, what the nature of that role should be.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

A platform network is an integrated high-capacity general-purpose network. The platform model dominates the market for wired broadband services, reducing the amount of infrastructure required and enabling rapid deployment of new services. We argue that wireless broadband is fundamentally different from wired broadband in ways that limit the benefits of platform networks. Instead, for both technical and economic reasons, wireless broadband services have developed as converged aggregations of heterogeneous specialized wireless networks. This design is optimal given that the primary constraint on broadband services is capacity due to limited spectrum allocations and other effects. In the following, we explain why it is a mistake to view wireless broadband services as embodying or growing toward the platform network model. We advocate for an alternative hybrid wireless broadband model to better understand and regulate wireless broadband systems.

Today's business model comprises of several layers: End users, Internet Service Providers (ISP), exchange points, and carriers. Arbitrary technological upgrades and absence of interaction in this layered business model, have led to critical system shortcomings. Foremost issues caused by this model are: 1.) unoptimized topology, 2.) low-liquidity, 3.) waste of resources, 4.) reduced interoperability. We introduce a new and novel concept for coping with the issues and shortcomings of today's business model. Integrated Neutral Topology Optimizer (INTO) is an over all arbiter layer with commercial functionality. This layer operates with ISPs and carriers during leasing process and continually monitors the traffic to optimize the bandwidth usage. Inter-and-intra carrier connections are made and maintained according to the decisions of this layer.