Tellabs and the Smart Pipe (Game Theory edition)
1. Ensure that data is transported efficiently so that capital and operating costs are minimised...I'm not even going to bother getting into any of the above.
2. Improve user experience by matching the performance of the network to the nature of the application or service being used...
3. Charge appropriately for use of the network...
Really.
I mean, seriously. Whats the point? Its basically a flame-bait, just thrown out there
However, I do want to use this as an opportunity to bring up a paper by Cheng, Bandyopadhyay, and Guo, talking about Net-Neutrality in terms of Game Theory*. It takes the idea of Network Optimization (or its Evil Twin, Network Throttling) back to basics, i.e., it asks the simple question Cui Bono? (For all you philistines out there, Who Benefits?).
Consider your local ISP - Bob's Network Company. Everybody pays pretty much the way they pay now.
Bob comes to you, and says"Hey! I'll prioritize your traffic, if you pay me an extra $100/month"
If there are no bandwidth/latency issues, you're probably answer is "Meh". After all, things are fine, why pay? (Remember, this is a rational decision on your part.
A year from now, Bob has a lot more subscribers, bandwidth sucks sometimes, and Bob approaches you again.
Your answer this time around is "Sure! I Need This!".
So far so good, right?
The problem here is, what is Bob's Incentive? His Motivation?
He could take this money, and upgrade his network. Except, the moment that bandwidth is plentiful, nobody else (you included!) is going to pay him $100/month for prioritization!
Ergo, Bob's Incentive, from a Game Theory perspective, is to keep the network always Just Bad Enough that people will pay for prioritization.
The point being, the Market works, its just not necessarily working for you....
* For a nice writeup about the article, check out Science Daily from back when, and a recent GigaOm article.
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