Authors:
Louis François Pau
and
Hong Chen
Affiliation:
Rotterdam School of Management, Netherlands
Keyword(s):
Individual tariffs, mobile services, computational games, mobile music, negotiation, SLA.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Communication and Software Infrastructure
;
e-Business
;
e-Commerce and e-Business: B2B and B2C
;
Enterprise Information Systems
;
Information and Systems Security
Abstract:
This paper aims to develop a bargaining model for calculation of individual tariffs for mobile service. In almost all publmic communication services today , tariffs are set unilateraly by the suppliers for some generic services ; the present and future emphasis on both unique content needs,and on service personalization, restrict the old tariffing principle to those users who only need basic universal services . Realizing this evolution , the ultimate goal is to provide a tool for computing individual tariffs. The paper first looks at the intrinsic drivers of individual tariffs both from sociological and economic perspectives. The paper proceeds further with a bargaining model for individual tariffs which is centered on user and supplier behaviours. The user, instead of being fully rational, has “bounded rationality” and his behaviours are not only subject to economic constraints but also influenced by social needs. The supplier can be either a firm (typically a communications servic
e operator) or community ; each supplier has his own goals which lead to different behaviors. In the proposed solution, individual tariffs are decided through interactions between the user and the supplier. Game theory is employed to provide structured analyses of the interactions and tariff design. We developed a computational model based on the bargaining model. It can be used to determine the individual tariff between a firm and an individual user. Preliminary results, which are based on a music training service treated as a bundle of communications, content, and assistance , show that individual tariffs can be beneficial to both the user and the supplier.
(More)