Abstract
One of the keys for the success of ubiquitous network services is the issue of assigning prices to those services. Furthermore, ubiquitous services based on a network of complementary technologies, both fixed and wireless, have created the expectation of services that can be obtained dynamically and automatically with the minimum possible of interaction between the users and potentially complex network systems. Intelligent agents would negotiate the best conditions to make sure the user obtains the best possible connection always (Voinov & Valladares, 2003). This best possible connection would be selected by comparing the different services, quality of the services offered, and prices, then reaching a decision based on the policies the user has configured in his or her intelligent agent and in conjunction with the policies being presented by the different service providers.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Charge: Amount of money billed for a particular service (Courcoubetis & Weber, 2003).
Game Theory: Branch of mathematics that uses models to study interactions with formalized incentive structures or “games” (Wikipedia, 2006).
Pareto Efficiency: A distribution is Pareto efficient if the net benefit for one participant cannot be improved without decreasing the benefit of another participant in that transaction.
Price: In the context of this paper, a price represents the monetary value associated with one unit of a specific service.
Price Strategy: Covers the entire range of factors utilized to determine the price of a product or service.