How to provide Quality of Service guarantees in the Internet? Lessons learnt from the airline and card-based payment sectors

The increasing demand for real-time applications (video conferencing, Internet telephony—VoIP—etc.) delivered over Internet networks requires stringent Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. Internet traffic routing based on a Best-effort basis can hardly support these QoS requirements. This article a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European management journal 2011-08, Vol.29 (4), p.306-318
Main Authors: M’Chirgui, Zouhaïer, Pénard, Thierry
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Airlines
Alliances
Computer networks
Economics and Finance
Electronic commerce
Europe
Humanities and Social Sciences
Interconnection agreements
Internet
Internet Quality of Service (QoS) Interconnection agreements Alliances Networks
Internet service providers
Investment
Investments
Management
Networks
Organization theory
Payment
Payment systems
Quality control
Quality of products
Quality of service
Quality of Service (QoS)
Real time
Strategic management
Studies
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Summary:The increasing demand for real-time applications (video conferencing, Internet telephony—VoIP—etc.) delivered over Internet networks requires stringent Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. Internet traffic routing based on a Best-effort basis can hardly support these QoS requirements. This article argues that Internet services providers should form strategic alliances to coordinate their investments in a new-generation infrastructure that could provide innovative services with QoS guarantees. This is supported by a topological analysis of the interconnection agreements among top-level Internet providers and by the lessons derived from alliances forged in the airline and card-based payment sectors. We conclude that on the Internet, the optimal organizational form should be a centralized alliance with a hub-and-spoke network structure.
ISSN:0263-2373
1873-5681
DOI:10.1016/j.emj.2010.12.003