Telecommunication economics - summary on the dagstuhl perspectives seminar no. 08043

The telecommunications sector and the Internet section of Internet Service Providers (ISP) have become a dynamic key area for the economic development of industrialized nations in the world. It is in constant evolution. Because of intense competition, telecommunications companies and ISPs are forced to diversify their offers and thus to propose an increasing number of services. However, economic analysis often ignores important technical aspects of telecommunications and is not aware of new developments. Engineering models often ignore economic factors. Thus, the design and deployment of future networks that incorporate new services are subject to uncertainties such as equipment and capacity prices (due to technological innovation), demand and supply for services (due to competition). Seeing leading researchers bringing together with various backgrounds, all working on innovative aspects of technical, techno-economic, social, and regulatory issues, lead to the following four main areas that have been partially tackled in an integrated manner: Architectural side, Social side, Economic and business side, and Regulatory side.