To subscribe, or not to subscribe: Modeling and analysis of service paradigms in cellular markets

Traditionally customers subscribe to specific providers and are served by accessing base stations (BSs) of the network of their provider. Inevitably subscribers with relatively “high” usage pattern and data-rate requirements are subsidized by the ones with lower usage and data-rates. As the wireless technology advances, a diverse set of services will be available. This paper introduces the “flex service” paradigm that allows a customer to dynamically access BSs of different providers based on various criteria, such as profile, network conditions, and offered prices. “Flex users” can select the appropriate provider and BS on a per-session basis. This work considers a diverse customer population with respect to their demand, their preference on data-rate over price, their tolerance on the blocking probabilities of their sessions, and their willingness to pay for certain services. Users can dynamically decide to buy a long-term subscription or become flex users. In this paper, we develop a rich framework for modeling and analysis of such markets in different spatio-temporal scales. We analyze the evolution of markets with the flex service paradigm, focusing on whether it can improve the quality-of-service (QoS), social welfare, flexibility and further enhance the competition among providers. The main contribution of this paper is detailed modeling and indepth performance analysis of such complex markets, in different spatial and temporal scales. It considers the perspective of clients, providers, and regulators. It demonstrates the benefits of markets with the flex service paradigm and compares them with the ones that only offer subscription contracts.