Posted on 15 February 2010 by Mister Mobility
For just N39, 999 you can pick up a Motorola Q9c Windows Mobile 6 smartphone on the Starcomms network. But that is not all; you also get 3 months i-Zap broadband 24/7 internet service.
Did we hear you say its a steal?
iZAP is a 3G Mobile broadband service that gives you fast access to the internet, intranet and emails on Starcomms’ EVDO network. The average download speed is 300 – 600 kbps and capable of peak speeds of upto 2.4mbps.

The Motorola Q9c also sports 96 MB RAM / 256 MB ROM, a 1.3 megapixel camera, A-GPS, Bluetooth 2.0 and miniUSB connectivity.
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February 15th, 2010 at 1:08 pm Browsing with
That’s one hell of an offer but I’ve always wondered what Starcomm’s monthy bandwidth limit is.
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February 15th, 2010 at 2:55 pm Browsing with
This is too good to be true….but am not impressed with it besides theres no info about data usage and caps.
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February 15th, 2010 at 3:15 pm Browsing with
Starcomms places no data caps on its iZap packages. After the 3-month freee subscription, you can subscribe to one of the following iZap packages:
1. Purple Always – 24 hours access for 30 days – N15, 950.00
2. Purple 250 Hours – cumulative 250 hours access or 90 days validity, whichever comes first – N15, 000.00 (translates to N5,000 per month)
3. Purple 100 Hours – cumulative 100 hours access or 30 days validity, whichever comes first – N6, 500.00
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February 15th, 2010 at 6:39 pm Browsing with
No data caps ke? Even foreign internet service providers don’t offer unlimited bandwidth just like that. I’ve checked their Fair Usage Policy and still can’t find nothing about limits.
Just to good to be true. K leg must dey somewhere
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February 15th, 2010 at 8:40 pm Browsing with
MY BROTHER I AGREE WITH YOU K LEG MUST MUST DAY. IT JUST LIKE CYBER CAFE OF THOSE DAYS WHERE THEY MAKE IT SLOW DELIBERATELY JUST TO USE UP YOUR HOUR .
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February 15th, 2010 at 8:57 pm Browsing with
Guys, instead of going on with your pessimism about a supposed “k leg”, why not simply give Starcomms customer care a call to ask? You can also search an online forum like Nairaland for more info from existing users.
We do know one or two individuals who use Starcomms iZap and have good experiences with it. To use your terms, they are yet to run into a “K leg”.
Of course, it is clear that these internet services have location issues, so you might want to find out if there’s iZap coverage at your end and if there are any location issues there as well. In our experience, Starcomms has (or had) location issues at Ojodu where our office is based, and so we had a bad experience with their services. Because of this, we moved away from Starcomms about two years ago.
Ask around. You never might know when you are missing out on a good deal because of pessimism.
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February 15th, 2010 at 10:00 pm Browsing with
Oga Alireta no vex oh! It’s not an issue of pessimism on my end. It’s just me being wary of “BUTS” that aren’t made known to you until you have paid your non refundable fee.
Your suggestion 2 call their customer care rings true and I’ll probably do just that.
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February 16th, 2010 at 4:32 pm Browsing with
Chukwudi, u’re correct k leg dey. At least for my side. Happy alireta brought this up. The deal is that you buy the 3 months always on izap and you get a complimentary moto Q. I have been using starcomms network for browsing for many years and comfortable with it in spite of the fact that you cant stream video. So when i saw the offer on their site, i fell for it. I sealed the deal on 5th Jan 2010.
I got the phone but it was not browsing. We had to return it and place the internet on hold. Phone returned after 2 weeks, we activated internet on 21st january but found that the moto Q could still not browse. It was returned again and i just got it back today in working condition. meanwhile, i have lost the period 21st Jan. to 15th Feb.
I also discovered that they gave me 2 nonths to end on 20th March instead of 20th April. I will still have to figth this if the phone does not give up.
P.S. I am sending this with the phone. And i am on 1x instead of izap because in Sapele, we have no evdo. The phone has hybrid connection.
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February 16th, 2010 at 4:40 pm Browsing with
I forgot to mention, alireta got the price wrong. The package is about N48,000. (Although i had to pay extra to the office guy cos the phone was not available is Sapele).
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February 16th, 2010 at 5:07 pm Browsing with
deoladoctor,
First, the SMS sent to us by Starcomms clearly stated N39,999, and when we spoke with their reps, not one of them mentioned N48,000.
But then, if you sealed the deal on 5th Jan, then in all probability, the N39,999 is a different, newer offer. Here is the SMS sent to us yesterday:
This seems different – and a better deal – from what you obtained in January. If only you had waited a bit
Second, the scenario you described does not qualify as “k leg” in the sense the others wrote about. They were concerned about hidden charges and policies; not issues that require technical support.
Happy you got the phone working anyway. Care to write a review?
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February 16th, 2010 at 5:47 pm Browsing with
i think that’s a good deal. that same phone was going for 100k the last time i checked at the customer care office in Portharcourt. it would be a better offer if one can tether the phone to a computer.
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February 16th, 2010 at 5:51 pm Browsing with
Mahogany,
Its your day – one of the Starcomms reps that we spoke with confirmed that it can be tethered. As a matter of fact, they require that you come with your laptop so they do the configuration for you.
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February 16th, 2010 at 6:05 pm Browsing with
this is temptation. i may buy this phone. so far starcomms EVDO internet service has served my business needs.
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February 16th, 2010 at 6:25 pm Browsing with
@mahogany,
No problem with using the phone as a modem. All you need is top install the activeSynch software and activate the modem link on phone whenever you want to use it as a modem. I have not tried it but i know it should be ok.
Also, i can safely say there is no hidden extras or catch. Its just as said.
A word of caution though. Make sure the phone given to you is tested and working properly so that you will not end up like me. (The phones are an unlocked ones from foreign networks and could probably be fairly used. The first two i got were verizon wireless while this one is Mobile-8.)
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February 16th, 2010 at 6:54 pm Browsing with
@alireta
I just checked starcomms website. They’ve not changed the price. Its still N48,000. They need to update the website.
@mahogany
The N100k price was for the phone with one year subscription. Thats what i was told at the time.
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February 16th, 2010 at 7:43 pm Browsing with
deoladoctor,
Don’t mind our telecom operators.They all have a terrible reputation for not keeping their websites up-to-date.
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February 16th, 2010 at 10:24 pm Browsing with
What is it with CDMA telecom operators offering phones that are from foreign networks and probably fairly used? I can’t spend my hard earned dough on second hand expensive stuff oh!
Oga Alireta since you guys are in the phone business, kindly shed some light on this used/foreign network phone issue. Thanks
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February 16th, 2010 at 11:41 pm Browsing with
@chukwudi
You have to realise that what you are buying is the three month subsciption to izap always – on package. The N48,000 for the three months in my own case roughly translates to the normal monthly N15,950 package multiplied by three and its even cheaper now. So if they are giving out (for free) a WinMo smartphone that costs more than the izap package, and they are Nigerians, you should actually not expect anything more than that. I can’t speak for others but can authoritatively say that my Moto Q had been replaced thrice. The first two phones i got were defective and were made for Verizon Wireless and this present one is for Mobile-8. I have lost 26 days out of my 3 months due to the complimentary faulty phones and i am still short changed by one month (but i’ll make sure they give this back).
But i wonder what one would have used to realise the 3 month izap purchase if there is no phone or modem given along with it. Interesting….
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February 18th, 2010 at 1:55 pm Browsing with
@deoladoctor: Thanks for that wonderful explanation. In other words it’s like buying 3 months of internet service with a free modem which by the way could be faulty
Kindly keep us informed if they refunded the 1 month lost due to constant phone replacement problem.
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