An algorithm for sharing costs of operating a computer network

The managers of computer networks are frequently faced with an important administrative problem-how to share the common cost of operating the network among its users. The traditional methods to solve this problem are examined and shown to be inadequate for the task. The Shapley value and three derived simplifications are introduced as a new technique for this purpose. The approach is explained and then demonstrated on data collected from an actual computer network. The solution provided by the method is discussed and appraised.