The Economics of Telecommunication Services: An Engineering Perspective

Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Authors
1 Characteristics and Characterization of Information Networks
	1.1 What Is Information?
	1.2 Modalities of Information
	1.3 Analog and Digital Information
	1.4 Networks: The Externality Factor
		1.4.1 Network Mergers
		1.4.2 Motivation for Merging Networks
	1.5 Merger of Heterogeneous Networks
	1.6 Illustrative Example
	Problems
	References
2 Drivers of the Telecommunication Industry
	2.1 Bandwidth
	2.2 Processing Power
	2.3 Composition of the Telecommunication Industry
	2.4 Telecommunication Services Utility and Demand
	2.5 Price Elasticity of Demand
	2.6 Cross Elasticity of Demand
	2.7 Price and Cross Elasticity of Demand for Telecommunication Services
	2.8 Summary
	Problems
	References
3 Graph Theoretic Characterization of Communication Networks
	3.1 Networks and Graph Theory
	3.2 Graphs of Some Well-Known Networks
	3.3 Networks of Information
	3.4 The Legacy PSTN: A Graphical Representation
	3.5 Graphical Representation of Networks
	3.6 Degree Distribution and Clustering Property of Networks
	3.7 Betweenness and Closeness of Network
	3.8 Diameter, Radius of a Node, and Center of a Graph
	3.9 Entropy of a Network
	3.10 Evolution of Networks
	3.11 Models of Contemporary Networks: Random Networks
		3.11.1 Random Networks
		3.11.2 Properties of Random Networks
	3.12 Summary
	Problems
	References
4 Small World and Scale-Free Networks
	4.1 Small World Networks
	4.2 Scale-Free Networks
	4.3 Summary
	Problems
	References
5 Characterization of Telecommunication Traffic
	5.1 Common User Networks
	5.2 Circuit and Packet Switching
	5.3 Performance Parameters of Networks
	5.4 Characterization of Traffic
	5.5 Selection of Transmission Medium
	5.6 Interdependence of Performance Parameters
	5.7 Forward Error Correction Scheme
	5.8 Backward Error Correction Scheme
	5.9 The Impact of Window Size on Throughput
	5.10 Summary
	Problems
	References
6 Bandwidth and Throughput of Networks: Circuit Switched Networks
	6.1 Circuit and Packet Switched Traffic
	6.2 Erlang B Traffic Characterization
	6.3 Summary
	Problems
	References
7 Bandwidth and Throughput of Networks: Packet Switched Networks
	7.1 Delay in Packet Switched Networks
	7.2 Analytical Model
	7.3 Multi-hop Packet Switched Networks
	7.4 Impact of Multi-Hopping on Throughput
	7.5 Summary
	Problems
	References
8 Pricing of Telecommunication Services
	8.1 The Role of Pricing in Network Services
	8.2 Traditional Methods of Pricing Telecommunication Services
	8.3 Characteristics of Communication Services
	8.4 Other Considerations in Pricing Network Services
	8.5 Related Work on Pricing Network Services
		8.5.1 Pricing for Regulated Telecommunication Services
		8.5.2 Pricing Internet Services
		8.5.3 Recent Literature on Pricing Multi-Service Communication Networks
	8.6 Summary
	Problems
	References
9 Pricing of Circuit Switched Services
	9.1 Resource Consumption Based Pricing for Circuit Switched Networks
	9.2 Pricing for Multi-hop Traffic
		9.2.1 Pricing for a Single-hop Traffic
		9.2.2 Pricing for Two-hop Traffic
		9.2.3 Pricing for Multi-hop Traffic
	9.3 Summary
	9.4 Problems
	References
10 Pricing of Packet Switched Services
	10.1 Pricing Based on Bounded Delays
		10.1.1 Pricing for Single-hop Networks
		10.1.2 Pricing for Two-hop and Multi-hop Networks
	10.2 Pricing Based on Bounded Jitter
		10.2.1 Pricing for Single-hop Networks
		10.2.2 Pricing for Multi-hop Networks
	10.3 Summary
	Problems
	References
11 Regulation
	11.1 Need for Regulation
	11.2 Forms of Regulatory Safeguards
		11.2.1 Rate of Return Regulation
		11.2.2 Price Cap Regulation
	11.3 Emerging Regulatory Apparatus in the USA
	11.4 A Constant Revenue Model for Blocked and Lost Networks
		11.4.1 Mathematical Construct
	11.5 Summary
	Problems
	References
12 Net Neutrality
	12.1 Introduction
	12.2 Stakeholders in the Broadband Access Era
	12.3 Net Neutrality
	12.4 The Sustainability of Net Neutrality
	12.5 Net Neutrality vs. Transportation Neutrality
	12.6 A Constant Revenue Model for Net Neutrality
	12.7 Summary
	Problems
	References
13 Game Theory and Its Applications to Communication Networks
	13.1 A Brief Introduction to Game Theory
		13.1.1 Non-cooperative Games
		13.1.2 Cooperative Games
	13.2 Game Theory in Communication Networks
	13.3 Summary
	Problems
	References
14 Multi-Service Network Models
	14.1 Introduction
	14.2 Users and Network Provider Models
		14.2.1 Utility Functions for Users
		14.2.2 Utility Functions for the Network Provider
	14.3 Network Model
	14.4 Pricing Model
	14.5 Summary
	Problems
	References
15 Subsidy-Free Prices in Priority-Based Networks
	15.1 Introduction
	15.2 The Model
	15.3 Waiting Cost Sharing Using the Shapley Value
	15.4 Axiomatic Characterization of the Shapley Value
	15.5 An Illustrative Example
	15.6 Summary
	Problems
	References
16 A Constant Revenue Model for Net Neutrality
	16.1 Background
	16.2 The Model
	16.3 Inter-user Compensations Scheme
	16.4 An Example and Further Discussion
	16.5 Summary
	Problems
	References
17 A Two-step Quality of Service Provisioning in Multi-Class Networks
	17.1 The Model
	17.2 Game Theoretic Framework
	17.3 Inter-class Resource Allocation
	17.4 An Illustrative Example
	17.5 Summary
	Problems
	References
18 Network of the Future
	18.1 Need for Advanced Level of Control
	18.2 Pricing of Network Services
	18.3 The Network as a Surrogate for Privacy and Security
		18.3.1 Network-Based Security
	18.4 Summary
Appendix AShow that ∂lnn∂n = 1n
Appendix B: Merger of Heterogeneous Networks
	References
Bibliography
Index