Pricing strategies in multi-operator heterogeneous wireless networks

In this paper, three pricing scenarios are proposed to set the transaction cost of the inter-operators agreement in a multi-operator cooperative environment. An analysis, of the operators´ profits, is performed for these cooperation scenarios and different price sharing models are investigated for comparison. First, we describe the proposed pricing scenarios, the motivation behind and the points of evaluation for each scenario. Then, we present the hybrid decision algorithm for the selection of the access in a multioperator wireless networks environment. Next, we present two business models made for the simulation, in order to highlight how network conditions and operator´s strategy for service price may affect the profitability of the cooperation. Simulation results show that proposed pricing models guarantee profit gain for the cooperating operators, and are suitable in a multi-operator sharing environment. A best pricing scenario can be decided depending on the deployed capacity for sharing and the user´s service price settings.