A pricing model of GPRS networks with WI-FI integration for "heavy" data users

As wireless services have become increasingly integrated and their demand is mounting, Wi-Fi provides an appealing opportunity for the GSM/GPRS operators to enhance their data capability. By integrating both networks, operators are able to provide 3G-like services. However, both networks have different data rates and capacity, which makes pricing a challenging issue. In this paper we propose a pricing model for GPRS networks integrated with Wi-Fi, which applies to data users with high service demand (“heavy”). Through optimization technique, our proposed model identifies how the integration can play a significant role in increasing operators’ overall revenue and potentially improving the performance of GPRS networks.