Professor,
Engineering
and Public Policy, Industrial
Administration, and Electrical
and Computer Engineering;
Telecommunications
technology, policy, and management; regulation and
industrial structure of computer and communications
technologies; communications networks and standards;
economics of information and networks; electronic
commerce.
B.S. (Electrical
Engineering and Mathematics) 1966 and 1967, M.S. (Electrical
Engineering) 1968, and
Sc.D. (Electrical Engineering with a minor in Economics)
1973, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Carnegie
Mellon, 1985 -.
Professor
Sirbu coordinates a research program in telecommunications
information technology, policy and management. The
research is concerned with how public policies influence
the deployment of new information technologies, and
conversely, what public policies are required to accommodate
new technological developments. For example, local
exchange competition is being facilitated by new technologies
for delivering integrated voice, data and video over
fiber optic, coaxial cable, twisted pair, or wireless
networks. Engineering economic models of alternative
local telecommunication network architectures are
used to examine issues of comparative economics, economies
of scale and scope, and impact of regulatory policies
governing competitive entry, unbundling, and interconnection.
The rise of integrated gigabit networks requires new
approaches to the regulation and pricing of telecommunications
services. Old regulatory models which treat telephony,
packet switching and cable services differently for
regulatory purposes must be revised when all information
types are reduced to data bits. We are exploring the
regulatory implications of Next Generation Network (NGN) technologies (e.g. packet-switched over fiber) and the implications of integrated
networks for regulatory policy. Pricing of integrated
networks is explored through formal and empirical
models of network supply and demand that can lead
to efficient and practical pricing structures for
both unicast and multicast traffic.
Broadband
networks are becoming more central to knowledge-based economies.
We are exploring the impact on economic growth of the availability and
use of broadband by combining broadband deployment data with economic
census data. We are also concerned with how to revise universal
service support mechanisms for wireless and NGNs.
Representative
Publications
A. Banerjee and M. Sirbu, "Towards Technologically and Competitively
Neutral Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Infrastructure," in I. Chlamtac, A.
Gumaste, and C. Czabo, eds, Broadband Services: Business Models and Technologies for Community Networks, (John Wiley, New Jersey, 2005). W. Lehr, C. Osorio, S. Gillett, and M. Sirbu, "Measuring Broadband's Economic Impact," Broadband Properties, Dec. 2005. Q. Wang,
J. Peha and M. Sirbu, "Optimal Pricing for Integrated
Services Networks," in L. McKnight and J. Bailey (eds.),
Internet Economics, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
1997.
M. Sirbu,
"Credits and Debits on the Internet," IEEE Spectrum,
vol. 34, no. 2, February 1997, pp. 23-39. |
