A critique of Nigeria's Internet Providers
NaijaRock
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Posted by Felix Okoli on August 12, 2009 at 02:21:29:
I have been doing a research to find out how many ISPs in Nigeria that were affected by the SAT3 cable crises. This is due to the fact that internet users like myself have experienced untold hardship due to its slow speed. I got this article from the Sun news online:http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/suntech/2009/aug/11/suntech-11-08-2009-001.htm"Last week, Nigeria was plunged into a nationwide network connection crisis with the temporary loss of service from SAT 3 submarine cable, which suffered some damage on one of its landing cables linking the Benin Republic. Ironically, many internet service providers now hide behind the excuse for their inability to offer quality service to subscribers.The disruption had been described as a minor one by industry watchers because there had always been occasional cuts on SAT 3 submarine cable. Although 70 per cent internet capacity was threatened but the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) confirmed that no damage was done to the Nigerian Telecommunications Company (NITEL) SAT 3 cable despite the incident.Prior to the network crisis, it would be recalled that the success story on the telecommunications industry in Nigeria today came principally because of the liberalization of the sector when the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 took that decisive step. At that time, the telecommunication density of Nigeria stood at less than 500,000 lines and, as such, what was meant by liberalization of the sector had meaning for only a handful of Nigerians.There are some major Coded Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators currently running in the country. These operators in the CDMA category include Starcomms, Multi-Links, ZOOMmobile and more recently Visafone.These players had their regionally based licences upgraded to unified access service licences (UASLs) in 2006, allowing them to extend their reach beyond traditional geographical limits and compete in both the fixed and mobile markets.The advantage that the CDMA operators have in Nigeria is that they are able to charge lower on-net and off-net call charges than GSM operators. Although, CDMA operators have fewer subscribers and less strain on their networks, which means they can provide better service quality if they chose to do so by providing quite cheap and partly subsidized mobile handsets that will appeal to the low-end market, especially those who have never been able to afford a handset.An industry watcher hinted that the success of CDMA operators and the reason they are becoming more popular in Nigeria lies in their strategy to penetrate rural, under-served communities and to provide affordable, effective services that appeal to the less fortunate among Nigeria 's 150million inhabitants.
Nevertheless, today, the story has significantly changed. Now many of them are hiding behind the cut in SAT 3 cable. But long before now, many of their services are nothing to write home about. The questions many active and intending subscribers are asking is whether operators are satisfying users' expectations and how fast is the speed of each operator internet facility?The survey conducted by Daily Sun, revealed that the number of subscribers to Starcomms Limited, a 3G mobile network has the fastest internet facility among the other CDMA operators. Investigations conducted revealed that its broadband had been upgraded and expanded.According to an official of Landmark Expression Ltd, Olorundare Rotimi, Starcomms is the only CDMA operator that provides endless service when it comes to internet browsing because of its super fast broadband data service. However, he added that many subscribers complain of drop calls when it concerns GSM operators, likewise, Starcomms Internet facilities do fluctuate especially during peak periods. Nonetheless, he tasked the operator to continually maintain its services, go back to the drawing board to improve on the existing services as well as expand operation to more cities in all parts of Nigeria under its coverage.Some critics in terms of internet facilities adjudged Visafone communications Ltd another best. They said that the network operator invested heavily in order to compete favourably with Starcomms, and it has given it a cutting edge among other CDMA operators.
Chief Executive Officer, Edico Music International, Mr. Edison Agbonfioror, reiterated that if Visafone could maintain the level of services it currently run, in no time, it could be one of the leading CDMA operators and it will compete with GSM operators at all levels."Though Visafone is relatively new, when it is recalled that its entry into the telecommunications industry is recent but its services, particularly its internet facility has been technologically improved. Since I have been on the network, I have not experienced much problem, and the internet was fast enough for browsing. It has helped me to develop my music industry by sorting one or two materials on the online and acquired more information about music instruments.Although, Multi-links had been in the race a long time ago, but is yet to meet up with the standard and expectation of its consumers. It was gathered that the operator is still having trouble on internet connectivity.
However, Multi-Links General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Tayo Ekundayo, reiterated that his company's connectivity was the best, while noting that they have the fastest internet connectivity for any subscriber that is hooked on EVDO.Mr. Wale Champ, a banker, disagreed with Ekundayo, while revealing that the operator's service is only enjoyable at mid-night and anything far from that is zero.
"It is so painful because during the day, the speed could be compared to that of a snail, whether there is heavy traffic or not, on the network, Multi-Links should not hide under such excuse.They need to improve on their nearly collapse internet connectivity."
Recently, the duo of Multi-Links and Technology Distributions Limited (TD), one of the leading ICT distributors in West Africa, entered into partnership, promising its numerous customers, limitless access to the internet.An Abuja subscriber, Sir Donatus Agbonifor, noted that the partnership was all hoax because Multi-Links had not lived up to expectations and should be advised to close shop.
"We hope the partnership would improve the Multi-Links service and add value to the life of its esteemed customers. Left to me, there is nothing Multi-Links has to offer anyone. That company has hoodwinked many of us to believe that it has surprises to spring. Nigeria is one dynamic country with intellectuals, who had gone round the world and know how these things work. It is so amazing that another computer company is partnering with it, then such company is ready to fail", he said.Its subscribers also rated another CDMA operator, ZOOM mobile, formerly known as Reltel below average. They noted that its voice and data services are friendly in terms of low tariff, while advising the operator to improve and expand its network to other parts of the country, because subscribers would only be loyal to operators who meet their broadband expectations.However, it would be recalled that ZOOMmobile became the first private telephone operator (PTO) to carry full wireless, high-speed, data transmission service for fax and Internet browsing as far back as 2001 but till date, its internet speed is nothing to write home about.
According to information posted on its website, the company installed more than 12,000,000 telephone lines, has over 1,500,000 active subscribers and the company has been variously adjudged by different panellists to satisfactorily meet user's expectations by, at least, 89 per cent. In reality, from a survey conducted, most of its subscribers had switched over to other network.Mary Okereke a public relations (PR) expert noted that she switched from ZOOMmobile to another popular CDMA operator that met her internet needs. While another subscriber, an online editor with a national newspaper, Mrs Ime Ola, disclosed that switching to ZOOMmobile is like a waste of money. She recounted that she believed the prints and broadcast adverts she saw and she was convinced enough to purchase the modem but only to be disappointed at the end of the day.Much as this reporter tried to reach ZOOMmobile last week, the person who spoke from the corporate department disclosed that she was not empowered to talk with the Press but said that this reporter should physically come down to their Adeola Odeku's office on the island."From my experience, even starcomms izap has slowed down in speed, but mobile companies offering broadband like MTN are still working, only i don't support the 3gb limit. I mean, i download 3gb of resources from the internet in like 2 days and it doesn't make sense subscribing to 3gb for a month with mtn, zain or glo. People are saying Visafone broadband is cool but I need to see it first from someone who is still using it.
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I have been doing a research to find out how many ISPs in Nigeria that were affected by the SAT3 cable crises. This is due to the fact that internet users like myself have experienced untold hardship due to its slow speed. I got this article from the Sun news online:http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/suntech/2009/aug/11/suntech-11-08-2009-001.htm"Last week, Nigeria was plunged into a nationwide network connection crisis with the temporary loss of service from SAT 3 submarine cable, which suffered some damage on one of its landing cables linking the Benin Republic. Ironically, many internet service providers now hide behind the excuse for their inability to offer quality service to subscribers.The disruption had been described as a minor one by industry watchers because there had always been occasional cuts on SAT 3 submarine cable. Although 70 per cent internet capacity was threatened but the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) confirmed that no damage was done to the Nigerian Telecommunications Company (NITEL) SAT 3 cable despite the incident.Prior to the network crisis, it would be recalled that the success story on the telecommunications industry in Nigeria today came principally because of the liberalization of the sector when the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 took that decisive step. At that time, the telecommunication density of Nigeria stood at less than 500,000 lines and, as such, what was meant by liberalization of the sector had meaning for only a handful of Nigerians.There are some major Coded Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators currently running in the country. These operators in the CDMA category include Starcomms, Multi-Links, ZOOMmobile and more recently Visafone.These players had their regionally based licences upgraded to unified access service licences (UASLs) in 2006, allowing them to extend their reach beyond traditional geographical limits and compete in both the fixed and mobile markets.The advantage that the CDMA operators have in Nigeria is that they are able to charge lower on-net and off-net call charges than GSM operators. Although, CDMA operators have fewer subscribers and less strain on their networks, which means they can provide better service quality if they chose to do so by providing quite cheap and partly subsidized mobile handsets that will appeal to the low-end market, especially those who have never been able to afford a handset.An industry watcher hinted that the success of CDMA operators and the reason they are becoming more popular in Nigeria lies in their strategy to penetrate rural, under-served communities and to provide affordable, effective services that appeal to the less fortunate among Nigeria 's 150million inhabitants.
Nevertheless, today, the story has significantly changed. Now many of them are hiding behind the cut in SAT 3 cable. But long before now, many of their services are nothing to write home about. The questions many active and intending subscribers are asking is whether operators are satisfying users' expectations and how fast is the speed of each operator internet facility?The survey conducted by Daily Sun, revealed that the number of subscribers to Starcomms Limited, a 3G mobile network has the fastest internet facility among the other CDMA operators. Investigations conducted revealed that its broadband had been upgraded and expanded.According to an official of Landmark Expression Ltd, Olorundare Rotimi, Starcomms is the only CDMA operator that provides endless service when it comes to internet browsing because of its super fast broadband data service. However, he added that many subscribers complain of drop calls when it concerns GSM operators, likewise, Starcomms Internet facilities do fluctuate especially during peak periods. Nonetheless, he tasked the operator to continually maintain its services, go back to the drawing board to improve on the existing services as well as expand operation to more cities in all parts of Nigeria under its coverage.Some critics in terms of internet facilities adjudged Visafone communications Ltd another best. They said that the network operator invested heavily in order to compete favourably with Starcomms, and it has given it a cutting edge among other CDMA operators.
Chief Executive Officer, Edico Music International, Mr. Edison Agbonfioror, reiterated that if Visafone could maintain the level of services it currently run, in no time, it could be one of the leading CDMA operators and it will compete with GSM operators at all levels."Though Visafone is relatively new, when it is recalled that its entry into the telecommunications industry is recent but its services, particularly its internet facility has been technologically improved. Since I have been on the network, I have not experienced much problem, and the internet was fast enough for browsing. It has helped me to develop my music industry by sorting one or two materials on the online and acquired more information about music instruments.Although, Multi-links had been in the race a long time ago, but is yet to meet up with the standard and expectation of its consumers. It was gathered that the operator is still having trouble on internet connectivity.
However, Multi-Links General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Tayo Ekundayo, reiterated that his company's connectivity was the best, while noting that they have the fastest internet connectivity for any subscriber that is hooked on EVDO.Mr. Wale Champ, a banker, disagreed with Ekundayo, while revealing that the operator's service is only enjoyable at mid-night and anything far from that is zero.
"It is so painful because during the day, the speed could be compared to that of a snail, whether there is heavy traffic or not, on the network, Multi-Links should not hide under such excuse.They need to improve on their nearly collapse internet connectivity."
Recently, the duo of Multi-Links and Technology Distributions Limited (TD), one of the leading ICT distributors in West Africa, entered into partnership, promising its numerous customers, limitless access to the internet.An Abuja subscriber, Sir Donatus Agbonifor, noted that the partnership was all hoax because Multi-Links had not lived up to expectations and should be advised to close shop.
"We hope the partnership would improve the Multi-Links service and add value to the life of its esteemed customers. Left to me, there is nothing Multi-Links has to offer anyone. That company has hoodwinked many of us to believe that it has surprises to spring. Nigeria is one dynamic country with intellectuals, who had gone round the world and know how these things work. It is so amazing that another computer company is partnering with it, then such company is ready to fail", he said.Its subscribers also rated another CDMA operator, ZOOM mobile, formerly known as Reltel below average. They noted that its voice and data services are friendly in terms of low tariff, while advising the operator to improve and expand its network to other parts of the country, because subscribers would only be loyal to operators who meet their broadband expectations.However, it would be recalled that ZOOMmobile became the first private telephone operator (PTO) to carry full wireless, high-speed, data transmission service for fax and Internet browsing as far back as 2001 but till date, its internet speed is nothing to write home about.
According to information posted on its website, the company installed more than 12,000,000 telephone lines, has over 1,500,000 active subscribers and the company has been variously adjudged by different panellists to satisfactorily meet user's expectations by, at least, 89 per cent. In reality, from a survey conducted, most of its subscribers had switched over to other network.Mary Okereke a public relations (PR) expert noted that she switched from ZOOMmobile to another popular CDMA operator that met her internet needs. While another subscriber, an online editor with a national newspaper, Mrs Ime Ola, disclosed that switching to ZOOMmobile is like a waste of money. She recounted that she believed the prints and broadcast adverts she saw and she was convinced enough to purchase the modem but only to be disappointed at the end of the day.Much as this reporter tried to reach ZOOMmobile last week, the person who spoke from the corporate department disclosed that she was not empowered to talk with the Press but said that this reporter should physically come down to their Adeola Odeku's office on the island."From my experience, even starcomms izap has slowed down in speed, but mobile companies offering broadband like MTN are still working, only i don't support the 3gb limit. I mean, i download 3gb of resources from the internet in like 2 days and it doesn't make sense subscribing to 3gb for a month with mtn, zain or glo. People are saying Visafone broadband is cool but I need to see it first from someone who is still using it.
Comments:
Required fields are Name, Subject and Message.