Best Effort versus Spectrum Markets: Best Effort versus Spectrum Markets: The Cases of European MVNOs and (Ultra)Wideband Unlicensed Services

Abstract

This paper compares two models for delivering broadband wireless services: best effort vs. QoS guaranteed services. The 'best effort' services we refer to in this paper are more commonly known as unlicensed wireless services, while the 'Quality of Service guaranteed' services are more commonly referred to as traditional landline telephony, as well as cellular telephone services of either the second or third generation. This paper highlights the differing 'market' versus 'engineering' philosophies implicit in alternative wireless service architectures.