Network market design part I: bandwidth markets

Markets for network resources have become increasingly important. Such resources include bandwidth in wireline networks to wireless spectrum. It is clear that if the markets are not properly designed, they can function rather poorly, even leading to market failure. This then leads to suboptimal use of network resources. In this article, we present the game theoretic framework behind the market design principles for network resources. We present some of the extant work on network market mechanisms in the context of wireline networks in part I. Part II [1] relates to network market design in the context of wireless systems. We also discuss some of the key challenges for the future.