Resumen
It is proposed to introduce the aesthetic criterion called "the degree of technical excellence" in the list of indicators that are used in the analysis of various scenarios for the telecommunication system development. A similar criterion commonly referred to as the "principle of beauty" has long been used in scientific research. The criterion "degree of technical excellence" does not depend on the specific reason of the analysed stage of the telecommunication system evolution. It includes three components: nontriviality, fundamentality, and performance. First component is directly related to innovative solutions. Second component determines the duration of the existence of a concept that is capable of evolution with regard to changing requirements. Third component in the simplest case is efficiency. All components can be estimated numerically using the method of expert estimates. The article proposes a simple method for the numerical characterization of the degree of technical excellence. Attention is focused on the characteristic features of the component "Efficiency". Two examples concerning the packet technologies are considered. It is shown that opposite conclusions can be obtained on the level of efficiency depending on the formulation of the problem being solved.