A Techno-Economic Analysis of Mobile Virtual Network Operators

The purpose of this study is to examine cross-national data in order to identify possible factors related to the observable patterns of Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) penetration. For this purpose, a mobile market structure is analyzed considering important economic factors related to the penetration of MVNOs. MVNOs have gained popularity in the Western markets, but have a dismal track record in non-Western regions. In comparing the different regions, this study analyzes how the MVNO market has changed and what opportunities and/or threats network operators and potential MVNO entrants are likely to face. This study conducts an economic assessment of market structure and environment for different countries’ MVNO penetration. The data on market structure is analyzed by means of cluster/factor analysis techniques in order to group countries according to their market environments. Then, regression equation analysis is used to investigate the relations of MVNO penetration and independent variables. The results show that MVNO penetration significantly relates to market structure and performance. These results also imply an appropriate policy to promote MVNO diffusion.

High-Speed Multimedia Networks

This chapter presents high-speed networking technologies and standards such as Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Fast Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Resilient Packet Ring (RPR), Provider Backbone Transport (PBT), Provider Backbone Bridges (PBB), Transport - Multi Protocol Label Switching (T-MPLS) and Optical Transport Network (OTN). It considers the requirements imposed to high-speed networks by multimedia applications and analyses crucial issues of high-speed networking such as bandwidth problems, discarding policies and fast broadcast. Finally, the chapter discusses future trends in high-speed multimedia networking.

Towards QoS-Inferred Internet

IP networks are the federative transport networks for a large set of emerging services. These services demand hard guarantees in term of the service availability, experienced Quality of Service (QoS) and robustness. Moreover, to be able to reach customers on a large scale, most of these services should be deployed with an Inter-domain scope. In order to meet QoS requirements of these services in an interdomain context, several issues should be solved. This chapter focuses on two issues: provider-to-provider agreements and enhancements to inter-domain routing protocol to convey QoS-related information. A concept called Meta-QoS-Class is introduced together with an enriched version of Border Gateway Protocol. This chapter provides a framework suitable for the promotion of QoS-enabled services with an inter-domain scope: the Parallel Internet. This concept is a viable way for the management of IP resources so as to deliver end-to-end QoS-enabled services.

Emerging Security Issues in VANETS for E-Business

This chapter presents the emerging security issues in Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) for e-business along with some of the solutions provided by the research community. The VANET will facilitate new applications for e-business that will revolutionize the driving experience, providing everything from instant, localized traffic updates to warning signals when the vehicle ahead abruptly brakes. In the emerging global economy, e-business has increasingly become a necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. In near future, vehicles may be equipped with short-range radios capable of communicating with other vehicles and highway infrastructure using a VANET. However, providing security in VANETs for e-business raises privacy concerns that must be considered. The deployment of VANETs for e-business is rapidly approaching, and their success and safety will depend on viable security solutions acceptable to consumers, manufacturers and governments.

Digital Cable TV Networks

This chapter focuses on digital cable TV networks as a convergent network with telecommunications networks and the Internet that provides broadcasting TV and radio, telecommunications services, and IP-based publishing and e-commerce. The chapter first traces the technological evolution of cable TV, highlighting recent developments in digitalization and convergence. The transformation of cable TV networks from channel operators to unified platforms is discussed. In doing so, the key terms and concepts in cable TV technology are introduced. The technological, political, regulatory, and economic forces behind the convergence are also identified. Furthermore, this chapter examines the value chain and collaborative opportunities among the participants in the digital cable TV revolution. User-centered business models of managing digital cable TV networks are proposed.

Modeling Intrusion Detection with Self Similar Traffic in Enterprise Networks

Most of the existing networks (e.g., telecommunications, industrial control, enterprise networks etc.) have been globally connected to open computer networks (Internet) in order to decentralize planning, management and controls in business. Most of these networks were originally designed without security considerations, thereby making them vulnerable to cyber attacks. This has given rise to the need for efficient and scalable intrusion detection systems (IDSs) and intrusion prevention systems (IPSs) to secure existing networks. Existing IDSs and IPSs have five major limitations, which prevent them from securing networks absolutely. It has been proven that the right combination of security techniques always protects networks better. This approach used change in Hurst parameter and a signal processing application of wavelets (i.e., multi-resolution technique) to develop an IDS. The novelty of our proposed IDS technique presented in this chapter lies in its efficiency and ability to eliminate most of the limitations of existing IDSs and IPSs, thereby ensuring high level network protection.

Open APIs and Protocols for Services and Applications in Telecoms

The role of open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and protocols for advanced service provisioning and the corresponding state of the art are the main subject of this chapter. Specifically, the role and the trade-offs in modern telecoms between open APIs and Protocols, that is, OSA/Parlay APIs, JAIN APIs and SIP, are discussed. A technical implementation analysis for each solution is presented, based on a call-related service, in order to set a common basis for the aforementioned technologies, since “voice” is a common denominator for a Fixed or Mobile Operator or an Internet Service Provider. A performance evaluation study regarding the implemented services is also presented and the chapter is summarized by interesting conclusions and related future trends.

Dynamics of Mobile Service Adoption

Many case examples in the mobile market have indicated that the success of mobile services (e.g. Internet browsing, email messaging or streaming video playback with mobile phones) is difficult to predict. Different factors serve either as drivers or bottlenecks in mobile service adoption. The present chapter has covered earlier research on mobile service adoption and utilized a newly developed handset-based mobile end-user research platform in obtaining data from 548 Finnish panelists in 2006. The main research goal is to understand the process of mobile service adoption by extracting new kinds of data straight from handsets. In addition to descriptive results, a path analysis model is developed that explains mobile service adoption contingent on a given set of explanatory variables. The chapter finds that user intentions have a strong impact on consequent adoption of the service. What is more, perceived hedonic benefits from the service are the strongest factor driving user intentions to use the service. The perceived technical capability to use the service and the role of the surrounding social network explain little why early-adopter kind of independent users intend to use services. Interestingly multimedia services are strongly driven by newer more capable handsets and mobile Internet browsing benefits significantly from block or flat-rate (instead of usage-based) pricing plans for transmitted data. The chapter develops several indices that measure time-varying characteristics of mobile services. Calculated indices for a set of mobile services in 2006 suggest that different mobile services are currently experiencing different phases in their life cycle.

The Impact of Government on the Evolving Market Structure of the U.S. Wireless Telephony Industry

The United States’ wireless telephone industry has evolved from a minor segment of the communications industry to a major provider of voice, and increasingly data and video communication. The industry uses radiowaves to transmit signals, and radiowave spectrum is regulated by the federal government. Moreover, local transmission requires unobstructed antennae, which in rural and suburban areas has led to the construction of wireless towers. States and municipalities have sought to regulate the construction of such towers, citing issues of aesthetics and health. The development of the wireless industry has been constrained by such government regulation. This chapter discusses the impact of government on the market structure of the wireless industry.

Optimising P2P Networks by Adaptive Overlay Construction

Distributed Hash Tables (DHTs) have been used in Peer-to-Peer networks to provide query lookups in typically O(log n) messages whilst requiring maintenance of only small amounts of routing state. We propose ROME, a layer which runs on top of the Chord DHT to provide control over network size through monitoring of node workload and propose the use of processes to control the addition or removal of nodes from the network. We show that this technique can reduce further the hop counts in networks where available node capacity exceeds workload, without the need to modify any processes of the underlying Chord protocol.