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Do Mobile Data Plans Affect Usage? Results from a Pricing Trial with ISP Customers

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Passive and Active Measurement (PAM 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCCN,volume 8995))

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Abstract

The growing amount of traffic in mobile data networks is causing concern for Internet service providers (ISPs), especially smaller ISPs that need to lease expensive links to Tier 1 networks. Large amounts of traffic in “peak” hours are of especial concern, since network capacity must be provisioned to accommodate these peaks. In response, many ISPs have begun trying to influence user behavior with pricing. Time-dependent pricing (TDP) can help reduce peaks, since it allows ISPs to charge higher prices during peak periods. We present results from the first TDP trial with a commercial ISP. In addition to analyzing application-specific mobile and WiFi traffic, we compare changes in user behavior due to monthly data caps and time-dependent prices. We find that monthly data caps tend to reduce usage, while TDP can increase usage as users consume more data during discounted times. Moreover, unlike data caps, TDP reduces the network’s peak-to-average usage ratio, lessening the need for network over-provisioning and increasing ISP profit.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We did not collect more detailed data, e.g., packet traces, to maintain users’ privacy. Participants fully consented to the data collection, but complete anonymity was not possible as we had to calculate how much to charge the TDP users.

  2. 2.

    We use per-app data for the TIP users since TDP can skew the app distribution [8], and we have no pre-trial per-app data. RADIUS logs do not have per-app data, and distributing apps before the trial would have skewed users’ behavior.

  3. 3.

    Larger sample sizes with a broader population may yield different top apps.

  4. 4.

    Pre-trial TIP and TDP, mid-trial TIP, mid-trial TDP, post-trial TIP, post-trial TDP surveys: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/{LPYDGWG, 63PVQCW, ZLLLQ86, CPPBH92, CPZP57Q}.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of our colleagues at the Matanuska Telephone Association. Part of the work was supported by NSF CNS-1117126.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Princeton University, Princeton, USA

    Carlee Joe-Wong & Mung Chiang

  2. University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, USA

    Sangtae Ha

  3. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

    Soumya Sen

Authors
  1. Carlee Joe-Wong
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  2. Sangtae Ha
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  3. Soumya Sen
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  4. Mung Chiang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carlee Joe-Wong .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern California, Marina Del Rey, California, USA

    Jelena Mirkovic

  2. New York University, New York, New York, USA

    Yong Liu

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Joe-Wong, C., Ha, S., Sen, S., Chiang, M. (2015). Do Mobile Data Plans Affect Usage? Results from a Pricing Trial with ISP Customers. In: Mirkovic, J., Liu, Y. (eds) Passive and Active Measurement. PAM 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8995. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15509-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15509-8_8

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