Case Studies - Agent Based Consumer Choice of Internet Services

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	Context Telecommunications providers are seeking to capitalise on the growth potential of broadband internet services in Australia. The choice of technology roll-out by providers must balance technology roll-out cost, technology limitations of broadband speed decreasing with distance from the source, and consumer’s demand for internet services requiring increasing broadband speeds over time.

	Modelling Approach Evans & Peck and Alcatel Australia jointly developed an agent based consumer choice model which allows scenario analysis on the potential impact to providers over the next 10 years. Critical to the consumer choice behaviour in the model were the geographical aspects of the consumer's location in relation to technology sources (eg. telephone exchange or base station) which ultimately setup a choice matrix of technologies and providers for that particular consumer. A user interface was created in which a map of the geographical area of a single telephone exchange could be overlaid with both the location characteristics of households (density and consumer type) and of technologies' coverage. Key features of the modelling tool developed include: Segmentation of the market by multiple customer types Multiple internet service providers, each offering multiple technologies Inclusion of cost models (CAPEX/OPEX) and revenue models (ARPU) Geographical mapping of populations densities and technology coverage areas Consumer choice algorithm based on availiabilty of technologies, customer profile and ranking of providers Variation of consumer demand for broadband speed over time based on selection of products (eg. high definition video)

	Demo Model A demonstration model based on this work was presented at the Winter Simulation Conference 2005. Launch the model. (This model will take a minute or two to download and uses Java Web Start, part of the Java Runtime Environment)

	Other Applications The same decision modelling method can be applied to: market penetration of advertising campaigns selection of store, service or product placement in relation to location of potential consumers demographic studies Evans & Peck are also researching methods of combining GIS data mapping software (MapInfo) with agent based simulation software (AnyLogic). Contact info@decisionmodelling.com for further information.

	Key Modelling Technique: Agent Based Modelling Modelling Software Used: AnyLogic