Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Doctoral Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Electronic Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Dirk Pesch

Abstract

From the inception of mobile communications one of the most important factors contributing to its success has been a good understanding of user requirements. In the first generation, mobile networks offered subscribers the freedom to communicate regardless of their locations and the joy of instant access to voice telephony services. This provided a competitive edge over wire line communication networks and resulted in large revenue streams. However over the past decade, mobile network operators have been faced with a number of factors that have incurred significant costs and resulting reduced revenue. These factors include deregulation, increased competition and technological progress that together have resulted in network and service providers focusing on the discovery of a so-called ‘killer application’ to help them regain their competitive edge. However, there has being much confusion over what exactly is this next ‘killer application’ which can be demonstrated by various research reports. Instead, network and service providers should be focused on the creation of a scalable service provisioning platform where a variety of services can be dynamically composed on the fly depending on mobile subscriber service demands. In addition, mobile users within this new era of telecommunications have higher expectations with what they expect from their service providers with regards to their Quality of Service (QoS) and price requirements. However, the current subscription model employed with telecommunications prohibits a true and open market. The Telecommunication Service Exchange (TSE) the subject of which is the discussion of this thesis is an exchange based marketplace where mobile users can purchase services on a per request basis outside of their subscription contracts allowing them to exert their bargaining power in the Business-to-Customer (B2C) market, while adopting a Service Oriented Architectural (SPA) approach to service provisioning in the Business-to-Business (B2B) market allowing service providers to become more flexible in their business processes. Key findings of the work presented in this thesis demonstrate that such transactions in both markets take place in a reasonable time where mobile users can purchase services in approx 10 seconds outside of their subscription contracts and that B2B plan selection for use in a business process takes place in 1 to 4 seconds demonstrating the TSE feasibility and viability as a service provisioning platform for Beyond 3G (B3G).

Access Level

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Download

Share

COinS