Charging for Web Content Pre-fetching in 3G Networks

Abstract. Web pre-fetching is a technique that tries to improve the QoS perceived by a user when surfing the web. Previous studies show that the cost of an effective hit rate is quite high in terms of bandwidth. This may be the reason why pre-fetching has not been commonly deployed in web proxies. Nevertheless, the situation can change in the context of 3G, where the radio access is a shared scarce resource and the operator may find useful to exchange fixednetwork bandwidth by perceived QoS for subscribed customers. Most importantly, in UMTS it is possible to charge for this service even though prefetching is provided by a third party. This paper studies this scenario, identifying the conditions where pre-fetching makes sense, describes the way OSA/Parlay could be used to enable charging, presents a tool developed for this purpose and analyses several issues related to charging for this service.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: QOFIS
• Authors: David Larrabeiti, Ricardo Larrabeiti, Manuel Urueña, Arturo Azcorra, Pablo Serrano
• Keywords: Effective Hit Rate, Internet Technology, Pre-fetching Makes, QOFIS 2004, Shared Scarce Resource