Introduction to the special issue on telecommunications techno-economics

Abstract

The growing interest in techno-economics for services and networks has given rise to a number of studies to support strategic decision making by telecommunication operators, service providers, manufacturers, and regulators. The emergence of fourth-generation systems, the fast evolution of Internet technologies as well as the convergence of future wireless and fixed networks challenge the telecommunication community to acquire innovative business concepts via a financial and technology blend. Techno-economics refer to the decision support providing managers and policymakers with early, quantitative information enabling them to arbitrate among a variety of investment projects. This special issue of Netnomics aims to contribute to the key concepts and criteria used by policymakers, network operators, and service providers to evaluate profitability in the telecom and information technology market. The issue hosts original contributions based on presentations given during the 5th Conference on Telecommunication Techno-Economics (CTTE2006) held in Athens, Greece on 8th and 9th of June 2006. The 5th CTTE (http://www. ctte-conference.org/2006/) was dedicated to economics of new telecommunication services and technologies and was the fifth in a series of international conferences/workshops, launched in 1997. Aiming to act as the major international event for the presentation of original and fundamental concepts and studies in the field of telecom techno-economics, it also serves as a forum for