As far back as 2006, the BBC had reported that in July of that year, 61% of its international traffic from mobile devices (a whopping 13.2 million page views in one month alone) was from Nigeria. At that time, I presented that as evidence to convince those who maintained that Nigerians do not use their mobile phones to access the Internet.

Before then, the WAP traffic statistics for our very own flagship site then showed a steady stream of mobile devices accessing the site. I also mentioned mobile-friendly sites like: Esato and Nairaland.

That was two (2) years ago. Has anything changed? Are Nigerians still browsing on their mobile devices? Are Nigerians putting out mobile content on the internet?

Yes; Nigerians are still browsing via mobiles, even more so. With faster mobile connections (EDGE, 3G, and 3.5G), and lower costs, the trend is improving.

Opera’s State Of the Mobile Web Report says, which tracks the usage of Opera Mini (the famous java browser for mobile devices), indicates that traffic from Nigeria is up 1690% since January, 2008. Hello.

WAP Review also reports in the article, Explosion in African Mobile Browsing, that its site’s mobile web traffic from Nigeria was up by 91% for October compared with July. The WAP Review story also provides statistics and information from other sources, and they all speak the same thing: the mobile web is fast gaining ground in Nigeria.

The other question, are Nigerians putting out content for mobile access, is a little more difficult to answer. Yes; there are a few more mobile-friendly sites of Nigerian origin. But the growth in this area is almost insignificant. There are still very few Nigerian mobile sites or mobile-friendly Nigerian sites. However, with enlightenment, this is likely to change.

For example, the Smirnoff Company is currently running a promo in Nigeria, and one of the channels they are utilising is mobile marketing, by placing banner ads on choice Nigerian mobile-friendly sites. That decision was the product of a clear understanding of the trends in the mobile market in Nigeria. They know that Nigerians are browsing via mobiles, but there were very few Nigerian mobile-friendly sites to pick from.

Does your business have a mobile-friendly website, or is still missing out on the huge potentials of the mobile internet market? Are you taking advantage of mobile devices and technology in order to stay connected when out and about? The anytime, anywhere revolution is here.

Anyone who is familiar with the mobile internet terrain in Nigeria must be already aware of the numerous free browsing tricks in circulation.

It started innocently years ago with one or two individuals stumbling on a loophole in the settings of one or more GSM networks and simply riding on that to enjoy the free internet connection those loopholes afforded. Thereafter, it developed into a deliberate and elaborate hunt for those loopholes, and today it is a massive industry. Just take a trip to Nairaland.com to have a glimpse of how widespread and deep this phenomenom has become.

It seems that the “bounty hunters” find a new loophole as soon as an existing one is blocked by any of the operators concerned. When challenged, bounty hunters point to “high internet tariffs” or the “injustice of operators” as justification for their actions. I will leave that subject between them and the network operators.

However, I cannot help but wonder how unproductive the attitude of many of the free browsing addicts is. One would have though that having access to free internet usage would encourage subscribers to take advantage of the internet’s huge resources for self development. But most seem to just waste the priviledge on downloads, instant messaging, social networking and personal mails. While I am sure that there would exist a few sensible users who are putting the free access to purposes of self, academic and economic development, by and large much of the free browing is often valueless activity.

Years of free browsing, and very little to show for it. Shame, for a country in need of much development.

Are you a prolific mobile user, geek or enthusiast? Do you often play around with new phones, value added services, and mobile games/applications? If you do and you can write well too, then MobilityNigeria.com is offering you an opportunity to join our team. In return, you enjoy complimentary (free) webhosting and domain name each year.

All you have to do is write an article, review, tip or feature per month (making a total of 12 per year). Reviews of phones, games and applications, especially, must be accompanied with screenshots. After six (6) months of consistent contributions, your preferred domain name and hosting account will be setup.

Interested? Email us at mobility[@]mobilitynigeria.com.

CDMA mobile network, Starcomms, sent round an SMS thanking its subscribers for making them “the First CDMA network in Nigeria to cross 2 Million happy subscribers”.

I am very sceptical of the “happy” part though. Personally, Starcomms has left a bad taste in my mouth with their mobile internet service. As a matter of fact, I only recently laid aside my mobile data card and subscription.

But, hey, Congratulations anyway to Starcomms! Hopefully, ZOOMmobile (formerly Reltel) won’t respond with a counter-claim. The two CDMA networks have been of recent involved in a neck-to-neck race of numbers.