Best Effort versus Spectrum Markets: Best Effort versus Spectrum Markets: The Cases of European MVNOs and (Ultra)Wideband Unlicensed Services

TL;DR

This paper compares best effort unlicensed wireless services with QoS guaranteed licensed services, analyzing their market and engineering differences through case studies of European MVNOs and (Ultra)Wideband services.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of market and engineering philosophies behind unlicensed and licensed wireless broadband services.

Findings

Unlicensed services operate on a best effort basis emphasizing market flexibility.

Licensed services focus on QoS guarantees ensuring reliability.

Differences impact service deployment and market strategies.

Abstract

This paper compares two models for delivering broadband wireless services: best effort vs. QoS guaranteed services. The 'best effort' services we refer to in this paper are more commonly known as unlicensed wireless services, while the 'Quality of Service guaranteed' services are more commonly referred to as traditional landline telephony, as well as cellular telephone services of either the second or third generation. This paper highlights the differing 'market' versus 'engineering' philosophies implicit in alternative wireless service architectures.