Market-based spectrum sharing in capacity-limited heterogeneous wireless networks

With the launch of flat-rate mobile broadband Internet access, wireless service providers (WSP) have faced a fierce competition for users. This became even more challenging issue with the expansion of smartphones and cloud computing applications driving the demand for mobile broadband access. Allowing users to get service offers freely from any wireless service provider, some aspects should be considered thoroughly. Although the WSP´s service coverage has traditionally been considered a legitimate necessity, the network capacity is limited and should be expanded to support a growing user demand. Consequently, the wireless service providers must exploit cost-effective solutions on deployment of radio access technologies that in turn would embody new sources to generate more revenue. These solutions would be affected by the competitor strategies in terms of their network capacity and coverage. In this paper, we consider this problem in the context of competitive wireless networks, operating in heterogeneous coverage areas. We observe market-based spectrum sharing framework that ensures an efficient resource allocation, meanwhile it guarantees profit maximization and facilitates a high spectrum utilization through the WSP competition. The paper presents a rigorous analysis of the framework properties that provides insights into the deployment and pricing strategies. We provide numerical results that can help identify parameters which affect the WSPs´ economical viability. These insights can be applied by future WSPs.