Described are systems and methods for managing data traffic to a plurality of mobile devices over a wireless network. For each mobile device, a facility is provided that is capable of: (i) assigning a utility function to mathematically represent the value of a plurality of applications running on that mobile device with respect to a factor, (ii) aggregating the plurality of utility functions to generate an aggregated utility function corresponding to that mobile device, and (ii) communicating at least one of the associated aggregate utility function and a bid price based on the associated aggregate utility function over a network. A resource allocation is determined among a plurality of mobile devices based on a bidding process which accounts for the aggregate utility functions, and the data traffic between the mobile devices and the resource is managed using a network traffic shaping element according to the resource allocation.