L
LequteMan
Guest
This is an issue which merits escalation. It seems like of late, the way Nigerian telecoms service providers calculate the 'data' that their customers consume (while using the internet), has suddenly increased. This phenomenon started about a year or two ago, and caught us all unawares. People allege that the NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission), is no longer 'getting the backs' of Nigerians, or in other words, have abandoned us to these smart Alecs, whose sole aim is to maximize their profits. Indeed, the provision of internet services, is the new cash cow for telecoms companies, but if unchecked, poor Nigerians, who are becoming more and more integrated into the global space, and for whom internet services have now become a necessity, will bear too much of a brunt.
The last time we checked, the NCC declared that some 76million Nigerians now use the internet. This is huge business for our telecoms providers, and it is also sustainable business. But like almost everything else in Nigeria, if no one takes notice, there is that tendency to go for the jugular and 'max out'. It is our way. And we have seen that done in almost every other sector in the past, from banking to petroleum, and of course in the civil service. We need to save ourselves from ourselves. I will explain below.
All of a sudden in Nigerian, an average user of the internet is said to consume over 1 Gigabyte a day. No matter how we economise on the use of this facility, once you log on to check a mail, everything disappears. Many people have complained, and hopped from one service provider to another. But it's the same story. It seems all the telecoms companies are on the same page on this, though I hear that Glo internet service is fairly cheap compared to others. I currently use MTN and my, they are trying to bankrupt me. There's no point calling them. They have all sorts of explanations about what is happening 'in the background' as you browse and such like stories. My research shows that this should not be the case, and that something fishy is afoot.
Not only MTN. Which haven't I tried in Nigeria? I've tried Visafone, Spectranet, Startech, Starcomms, Direct on PC... all the works. Same result. Sometimes, some of them are unnecessarily slow, so you just want something that works; at any cost.
Then they start to hit you. We live in the knowledge age, and everyone of us will get smarter over time. Google is everyone' friend, to ask questions and find out stuff. That means that this protest of mine will become more regular, as society - even Nigeria - evolves. The emerging global economic terrain is one whereby technology creates seamless transparency which challenges businesses, their profitability, and of course, the wages of workers and jobs too. The greatest contribution of technology is to make life cheaper even if it takes jobs away. But that advantage of a cheaper existence, will come through in societies where people are aware and where they speak up. In the UK for example, the citizens are keenly aware, and speak up quicker, outing anyone who attempts to cheat them. Therefore, you could live on 50 pounds in a month. In Nigeria, we still sometimes behave like we have access to endless money.
Religion and the illusion of a special status with God, which our pastors especially pump into the heads of tens of millions of our people, all the while justifying why we all have to be detached from each other and focus 'selfishly' on the blessings that God has promised us individually, does not help. I don't think it is sustainable and this is not how to run a society but our leaders seem not to care about these things. The average Briton thinks about how best to spend his/her money, seeks bargains. Ditto an American. But the Nigerian just spends. He spends, knowing that that God loves him more that the Brit or Yankee, and would always bail him out before he hits the ground. God shows up actually, but the Nigerian helps himself too many times. If he is a civil servant, that is when he gets desperate. If he is a cashier in a private firm, he pilfers.
So I buy 7.5GB of data from MTN for N8,000. Within a week, everything disappears. In my office, we buy 50GB of data from Spectranet for N17,500. In 10 days it disappears. In between using my own data on my MTN phone - which I also tether to my laptop, I sometimes rely on my wife's internet subscription. Same story, different network. If I have to renew my MTN data (as I usually do), I spend at least N24,000 ($110 monthly). I hardly stream videos mind you. If I renew for my office, I will spend N52,500 (about $250). Between myself and my wife, and our offices, we spend about N100,000 (over $450) on internet services alone, each month! Now, that is something. Anyone living anywhere else but Nigeria, will hit the roof.
I think what is going on here is akin to what went on in the beginning of Nigeria's mobile phone epiphany. In 2001/2, we would actually purchase SIM card for between N20,000 and N30,000 and under the N50 per second regime, some of us spent another N40,000 monthly just to talk to each other. Sometimes I think about the 'reckless' manner we (or I) have spent money in the past and I shudder.
So, just like in 2001, I think we should pitch these phone companies together. In the first place, I strongly feel they are rigging the game. Y'know, just like we drive to the fuel station and we see N87 per litre on the metre, but the attendant is selling to us at N120 per litre! How they do it I don't know. But the Department of Petroleum Resources recently closed a few of them lately. Welcome to Nigeria. If filling stations can rig metres, why not ISPs? In this instance there is no way of benchmarking or confirming anything. Everything is in the 'clouds'. A friend stated that he could never trust anything measured or metred in Nigeria, for this reason.
Before writing this I called around to find out how this internet data thing works elsewhere. In the UK, for about 18 pounds (N6,000) a month, most homes have UNLIMITED data. In the US, same thing, maybe a little more expensive. On my Facebook page, I have received responses from many friends around the world, from South Africa, to Malaysia, Thailand and Bulgaria. Even Ghana our neighbor, and they all find it ridiculous that Nigerians get charged this much for internet services that is becoming totally free elsewhere where you have so many free zones. I passed through Abidjan Airport in May and used their free internet which was quite speedy. In Nigeria, the available wifi at the Lagos Airport, though slow, asks for a fee. Yet we want tourists to come here. And we are in the same space as Cote D'Ivoire! As I stated earlier, TECHNOLOGY, which we don't produce, is only good for making life easier and cheaper. But apparently those who are in the first line of disseminating technology (which they don't produce), in Nigeria, take delight in keeping Nigerians in the dark for as long as possible... and 'hammering' us, as we would say on the streets!
UNLIMITED DATA ACCESS is apparently now the fad around the world, and I believe strongly that we can pay a lot less than we are paying for these things. Every of these big businesses in Nigeria tells us of all the infrastructure problems as if small businesses exist in a different planet and don't also face the same challenges. In no time you will hear of 'diesel' and 'generator'. Truth; they all see Nigeria as good for the ripping off only. That is why MTN, Hilton, Shoprite and some other chains make their most money from Nigeria. It is Nigerians I pity. The tunnel vision is something else. So long as we have avenue to get some, we don't ever think about the collective. But remember that when you pay for these exorbitant services, you are basically the 'mugu'. Money spent can never be regained. And what goes around surely comes around. When you get an avenue to rip off the system and ignore systemic malaises, you end up running from pillar to post in a dysfunctional society. That is why we all run abroad for vacation, healthcare, education, everything. They are not 'mumus' in developed countries for thinking the way they think and organising their societies in a SUSTAINABLE manner.
Now, biko nu, Dan'Allah, Ntori Olo'un, what do we do about this data rip-off? Which ISP will give us unlimited browsing for like N5K a month? Can I get a 'witness'?
Fasua is an Abuja-based economist, author and public commentator
The last time we checked, the NCC declared that some 76million Nigerians now use the internet. This is huge business for our telecoms providers, and it is also sustainable business. But like almost everything else in Nigeria, if no one takes notice, there is that tendency to go for the jugular and 'max out'. It is our way. And we have seen that done in almost every other sector in the past, from banking to petroleum, and of course in the civil service. We need to save ourselves from ourselves. I will explain below.
All of a sudden in Nigerian, an average user of the internet is said to consume over 1 Gigabyte a day. No matter how we economise on the use of this facility, once you log on to check a mail, everything disappears. Many people have complained, and hopped from one service provider to another. But it's the same story. It seems all the telecoms companies are on the same page on this, though I hear that Glo internet service is fairly cheap compared to others. I currently use MTN and my, they are trying to bankrupt me. There's no point calling them. They have all sorts of explanations about what is happening 'in the background' as you browse and such like stories. My research shows that this should not be the case, and that something fishy is afoot.
Not only MTN. Which haven't I tried in Nigeria? I've tried Visafone, Spectranet, Startech, Starcomms, Direct on PC... all the works. Same result. Sometimes, some of them are unnecessarily slow, so you just want something that works; at any cost.
Then they start to hit you. We live in the knowledge age, and everyone of us will get smarter over time. Google is everyone' friend, to ask questions and find out stuff. That means that this protest of mine will become more regular, as society - even Nigeria - evolves. The emerging global economic terrain is one whereby technology creates seamless transparency which challenges businesses, their profitability, and of course, the wages of workers and jobs too. The greatest contribution of technology is to make life cheaper even if it takes jobs away. But that advantage of a cheaper existence, will come through in societies where people are aware and where they speak up. In the UK for example, the citizens are keenly aware, and speak up quicker, outing anyone who attempts to cheat them. Therefore, you could live on 50 pounds in a month. In Nigeria, we still sometimes behave like we have access to endless money.
Religion and the illusion of a special status with God, which our pastors especially pump into the heads of tens of millions of our people, all the while justifying why we all have to be detached from each other and focus 'selfishly' on the blessings that God has promised us individually, does not help. I don't think it is sustainable and this is not how to run a society but our leaders seem not to care about these things. The average Briton thinks about how best to spend his/her money, seeks bargains. Ditto an American. But the Nigerian just spends. He spends, knowing that that God loves him more that the Brit or Yankee, and would always bail him out before he hits the ground. God shows up actually, but the Nigerian helps himself too many times. If he is a civil servant, that is when he gets desperate. If he is a cashier in a private firm, he pilfers.
So I buy 7.5GB of data from MTN for N8,000. Within a week, everything disappears. In my office, we buy 50GB of data from Spectranet for N17,500. In 10 days it disappears. In between using my own data on my MTN phone - which I also tether to my laptop, I sometimes rely on my wife's internet subscription. Same story, different network. If I have to renew my MTN data (as I usually do), I spend at least N24,000 ($110 monthly). I hardly stream videos mind you. If I renew for my office, I will spend N52,500 (about $250). Between myself and my wife, and our offices, we spend about N100,000 (over $450) on internet services alone, each month! Now, that is something. Anyone living anywhere else but Nigeria, will hit the roof.
I think what is going on here is akin to what went on in the beginning of Nigeria's mobile phone epiphany. In 2001/2, we would actually purchase SIM card for between N20,000 and N30,000 and under the N50 per second regime, some of us spent another N40,000 monthly just to talk to each other. Sometimes I think about the 'reckless' manner we (or I) have spent money in the past and I shudder.
So, just like in 2001, I think we should pitch these phone companies together. In the first place, I strongly feel they are rigging the game. Y'know, just like we drive to the fuel station and we see N87 per litre on the metre, but the attendant is selling to us at N120 per litre! How they do it I don't know. But the Department of Petroleum Resources recently closed a few of them lately. Welcome to Nigeria. If filling stations can rig metres, why not ISPs? In this instance there is no way of benchmarking or confirming anything. Everything is in the 'clouds'. A friend stated that he could never trust anything measured or metred in Nigeria, for this reason.
Before writing this I called around to find out how this internet data thing works elsewhere. In the UK, for about 18 pounds (N6,000) a month, most homes have UNLIMITED data. In the US, same thing, maybe a little more expensive. On my Facebook page, I have received responses from many friends around the world, from South Africa, to Malaysia, Thailand and Bulgaria. Even Ghana our neighbor, and they all find it ridiculous that Nigerians get charged this much for internet services that is becoming totally free elsewhere where you have so many free zones. I passed through Abidjan Airport in May and used their free internet which was quite speedy. In Nigeria, the available wifi at the Lagos Airport, though slow, asks for a fee. Yet we want tourists to come here. And we are in the same space as Cote D'Ivoire! As I stated earlier, TECHNOLOGY, which we don't produce, is only good for making life easier and cheaper. But apparently those who are in the first line of disseminating technology (which they don't produce), in Nigeria, take delight in keeping Nigerians in the dark for as long as possible... and 'hammering' us, as we would say on the streets!
UNLIMITED DATA ACCESS is apparently now the fad around the world, and I believe strongly that we can pay a lot less than we are paying for these things. Every of these big businesses in Nigeria tells us of all the infrastructure problems as if small businesses exist in a different planet and don't also face the same challenges. In no time you will hear of 'diesel' and 'generator'. Truth; they all see Nigeria as good for the ripping off only. That is why MTN, Hilton, Shoprite and some other chains make their most money from Nigeria. It is Nigerians I pity. The tunnel vision is something else. So long as we have avenue to get some, we don't ever think about the collective. But remember that when you pay for these exorbitant services, you are basically the 'mugu'. Money spent can never be regained. And what goes around surely comes around. When you get an avenue to rip off the system and ignore systemic malaises, you end up running from pillar to post in a dysfunctional society. That is why we all run abroad for vacation, healthcare, education, everything. They are not 'mumus' in developed countries for thinking the way they think and organising their societies in a SUSTAINABLE manner.
Now, biko nu, Dan'Allah, Ntori Olo'un, what do we do about this data rip-off? Which ISP will give us unlimited browsing for like N5K a month? Can I get a 'witness'?
Fasua is an Abuja-based economist, author and public commentator