I have been meaning to write this article for a long time now.

Looking at the mobile services market here in Nigeria, I am both amused and sad (though how that combination is possible is beyond me) at how everything seems to boil down to price.

The operators are in a nasty price war – and I daresay that we all are the worse for it. Here is what may have escaped us – every time a network operator has further crashed tariffs, quality of service (QoS) on that network has followed in tow.

Unfortunately, the consumers, who cry foul every time that happens, are as much to blame for the scenario.

But an industry that is price-driven alone is a dangerous thing. Note that I said “alone”.

I wish that one network operator would dare to stand out and offer significantly higher tariffs and superb, stellar services. For example, I’d like to see a network where I can upload 2GB of data without breaking a sweat in a matter of minutes. Every single time. I wouldn’t mind paying more for that service.

That would be serious differentiation based on value, not just price. People who need that kind of reliability are sure to be willing to pay for it.

Let’s take a look at the device market. Apple introduced a device that offered much less features than the competition, but that also cost significantly more. This was at a time that the global economy was going down the drain. Did Apple fail?

No; they didn’t. As a matter of fact, Apple has performed exceptionally well by refusing to compete on price. The iPhone range offers less features than others, but because it does well those things that it offers, it could be sold successfully at a premium price.

That’s market differentiation. Apple was not trying to produce another Symbian or BlackBerry copy back then. While they have since implemented some more features, they are still not producing just another smartphone.

I hope we get the picture. As consumers, we need to accept that all networks do not have to offer low tariffs – if they can offer superb value. We need options, and right now, those options do not exist.

Paying More for Less

While we now have much lower tariffs than we had many months and years ago, the fact that we have to maintain multiple lines and devices means that we may not necesarilly be spending less.

We are probably just going round in circles.

Options and Choices

I want to see the people’s network – one that offers the lowest tariffs. But then, I wouldn’t expect the most reliable services from such a network in comparison with a network offering premium services.

I also want to see the turbo (premium) network – one that offers the most rock solid connections for both voice and data, but perhaps at significantly higher tariffs.

There would also be room in the middle – for those who want a bit of this and a bit of that.

That way, consumers can make real choices. With a market as large as Nigeria, operators should have no fear of standing out from the crowd.

The Present is Mediocrity

Unfortunately, right now, there is no differentiation in the market. Absolutely none. There is no competition, for competition based on price alone is not healthy competition.

Dear network operators, where are your balls? You are all hiding in your comfort zones.

Right now, all you are offering are the same things at more or less the same prices. You are valueless brands. Waterless wells. Tasteless salt.

Your so-called brands only exist on TV and on the pages of newspapers. I know that your brand managers will blacklist me for saying this, but its been said. Go break a leg.

All you have here in the Nigerian market are business names, not brands. You are all the same.

And when someone dares to attempt to glorify this mediocrity with a statement like, “Only in Nigeria is this possible“, yes; I agree – only in Nigeria can anyone make millions daily from offering such poor, tasteless services like our networks operators offer.

In 2011, and in a country of over 150 million people, that’s shameful.

I have used scores of phones in the course of my work here at The Mobility Company. The Nokia N9, which I currently use, is number 67.

I also have a SIM card for every GSM network in the country, so I am able to interchange SIMs in each and every one of the phones I handle so as to compare performances.

That experience cannot be purchased in the market and comes in handy. I’ll use something that happened with the N9 in the last few days as an example.

Because I have an MTN SIM that had been cut down to microSIM size months back for iPad use, it was this SIM that I initally put in the N9. During that period, because I wasn’t subscribed to an MTN internet bundle, all data connectivity on the N9 was via Wifi (I have a Mifi device running Etisalat Easyblaze).

All through that time, the N9 performed fluidly. No hiccups. No slowdowns. All activity was zippy.

Suddenly, the Picture Changed
However, a few days ago, I noticed occasional slowdowns and pauses while using the N9. I wondered what could be wrong. Earlier today, I had to share my Glo HSI via the built-in hotspot app, but found that the connection kept breaking.

That was when I remembered. I had gotten my Glo SIM trimmed down to microSIM size and put it in the N9 some days back and was using Glo’s internet service on the device.

Here’s the catch: Glo’s data service has been troublesome for a while. The connection terminates at random, and even just hybernates as well.

Now, here was what was happening: with all of two email accounts, Facebook, Twitter, and Skype always looking for a connection at the same time, and the connection breaking and disappearing at will, this resulted in the pauses and slowdowns that I observed on the N9.

Switching back to the more stable Wifi connection solved the problem. The N9 went back to being zippy. I remember experiencing this with every other device that I have reviewed.

The Point
Your network data stability affects the performance of your phone, affects how fast your email is fetched or sent, affects how fast or at times how well web pages are rendered, and affects how long the device runs for.

If you want to arrive at sound conclusions concerning a device, especially one that depends on an always-on connection for multiple services and apps, try out the device on connections from multiple sources. You will be surprised at the variations in performance that you will notice.

Your network data stability affects the performance of your phone, affects how fast your email is fetched or sent, affects how fast or at times how well web pages are rendered, and affects how long the device runs for.

Device Comparisons
When comparing two devices that rely on an internet connection, it is better to share the same Wifi connection between them to get more accurate results. Different SIMs in the devices will likely result in slightly skewed statistics. Even SIMs from the same network (believe it or not) may result in skewed statistics.

In A Nutshell
Don’t be quick to conclude that an internet-connected mobile device is bad because it is being sluggish or freezing if you haven’t tried it out with alternative stable internet connections. For all you care, it could simply be that it is your network operator who is messing with your head.

I have been a champion of resource-efficiency on smartphones since forever. This has made it sound like I am a die-hard Symbian fan. Just yesterday, an acquaintance from India asked me, “You like Symbian more than Android. May I ask you why?”

I answered, “Symbian is more customisable and manages data, power and other resources better than Android“.

I have no allegiance to Symbian, and certainly no contract or interests binding me to sing its praise. But you can’t pry me away from resource efficient systems!

Now, the recently announced iPhone 4S has been reported as running on a CPU clocked 800MHz, yet beats all the array of 1.x GHz Android smartphones and tablets in the market. Look, we ALL knew that Android was a resource hog from the Get-go, but this feat by the 4S is nothing short of amazing!

Take a look at this chart:

You can also see from the chart that the exaggerated claim by Apple that the 4S has up to 7x performance gain was just that – an exaggeration AKA hype. At best, no-one will experience anything more than twice the speed bump, if at all.

Still, the recorded performance feat is amazing; isn’t it? The 4S trouncing all those Android beasts in terms of performance.

You know what this means; don’t you? I am falling in love with iOS. Whatever optimisation was done to the code, it is freaking good! Now, if only Apple would fix the data hogging too, I would proclaim iOS the king of mobile resource efficiency.

I am also hoping that this means that iOS 5 brings greater resource efficiency to existing devices when they receive the update.

Perhaps they will get that sorted out before Symbian finally stops breathing.

More juicy details

The grass always looks green on the other side – until you cross to the other side, that is.

I have treated myself to experience devices on a number of mobile platforms, including Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm, Maemo and Android. My background from the word go was Symbian.

All over the world, there is a huge crowd crying out for the newer, shinier mobile operating systems, iOS and Android being the most demanded. However, before you make that switch, here is more food for thought. I am one to always recommend that you think of your unique needs and situations before investing your hard-earned money in anything. It just makes sense.

I have been using the Android-powered Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro for a few months now, and while I love the device and the OS, there are some issues that just keep grating my nerves. This does not make the Mini pro a bad device or Android a useless OS. No; this is just so you know.

The following are weaknesses of Android-powered devices in general that I have faced the more I use the Mini Pro:

1. Not-so-good to poor battery life, depending on the device
2. Heavy data consumption
3. Poor non-Gmail email experience

Note that before arriving at the above conclusions, I had also scoured the internet to see if these were common issues with Android. Generally speaking, I have found them so.

Not-so-good to poor battery life, depending on the device
This is so well documented that I do not need to say much about it here, so I’ll just skip.

Heavy data consumption
Android OS seems to have been designed to connect to the internet for everything. Setting up any Android device requires an internet connection and a Gmail account. Thereafter, it doesn’t get better. Unless you do not need PUSH email and so turn off auto-sync, your droid stays continually connected to your Google mail, contacts and calendars – and guzzles your data while at it.

Not only that, automatic app updates require that connection as well. Unless you are willing to turn background data off and lose auto mail/contacts/calendars sync and access to the Market, you are going to be burning lots of data.

I used to get by with a 100Mb data plan on my smartphones. There were many months in which I did not exhaust my data allocation. My troubles started with the Maemo-powered N900 and now Android-powered X10 Mini Pro.

With the Mini Pro, for example, I had subscribed to a 150Mb plan from Glo on the 20th of September. By the 5th of october, it was all gone! I re-subscribed on the 6th. Ten days later, it was gone. Then I re-subscribed on the 16th. Today, the 25th, I have been told that I have 29Mb left, along with a renewal/cancellation notice.

That’s N3,000 (450Mb) for on-phone data in about the space of a month! This is not happening, I have been thinking to myself.

Note that I have PC internet both at home and at work, and I am not tethering with my device. This is on-phone usage.

Poor non-Gmail email experience
This may sound unbelievable to those who had thought that email was a strength of android, but I am having email problems that have remained unsolved. Gmail works fine. You see, Gmail, not email in general, is a strength of Android.

I have tried setting up other non-Gmail accounts e.g. my business mail, and failed every single time. I keep getting a server settings error, though all settings I enter are correct. This same email account that won’t work on my Mini Pro works on other platforms and other mail clients.

The internet is littered with people who have all kinds of email issues with Android. Even on v2.1, email is described as buggy in a number of places.

Till this minute, all that I have on my X10 Mini Pro is my Google-based email.

If I may mention, the only mobile OSes on which I have had no issues with email are Windows Mobile and Palm. Apart from BlackBerry which I never got to use for long enough to be able to tell, the others that I have used have been found wanting in one way or the other with regards email.

Well, there you are. If battery life and email are really important to you, and you are looking to keep your monthly mobile internet bills as low as can be, perhaps you need to re-think getting on the Android groove. Just saying.

Just don’t forget – very often, the grass looks green on the other side. Till you get there.

I am doing this post from Accra, the capital city of Ghana. One of the uncomfortable things about travelling out of one’s native country is the prospect of being unreachable by your loved ones while on the move.

This used to be the case. Now, with voice and data roaming on mobile networks, it is fast becoming a thing of the past.

When my family and I left Nigeria on friday, thanks to seamless roaming on both MTN and Zain networks, we have stayed in touch on our regular GSM lines where each of those networks have coverage. For MTN, we had a signal most of the time and encountered black spots every now and then. This was because MTN has networks active in Benin, and Ghana.

On MTN, I received calls and SMS for free, and made calls at the same rate as subscribers on the host network pay. Unfortunately, data roaming did not work, so I was offline some time after we entered Benin till our arrival and settling down at Accra.

Zain data roaming worked once we got to Ghana, as there were no Zain networks in benin and Togo. My wife received calls for free as well and made calls to loved ones back home. As for data roaming on Zain, while there is GPRS/EDGE/3G/3.5G coverage, her Zain Nigeria line won’t even indicate the presence of that.

PS: The Zain Nigeria website says that data roaming is available in Ghana on “Tigo (Millicom)”. Why not on Zain Ghana?

I purchased a Zain Ghana SIM for mobile internet use. It came pre-activated for internet. All I had to do was load airtime, enter the settings manually, subscribe to a plan, and I was good to go. EDGE coverage is strong at our location, and I am posting this on Zain Ghana internet.

Our holiday spot, Atlantic Resort, has a Wi-fi hotspot. I will be subscribing as soon as I can get my lazy butts off the bed and out of the chalet.

This is Yomi Adegboye reporting live from Ghana for MobilityNigeria.com.

According to a news report filed by the Daily Trust on the 30th of June, Globacom announced through its Group Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mohamed Jameel that they would be crashing the prices of internet connectivity come September.

In the same breath, he also said they would be reducing call rates “with or without the consent of other operators in the country”. This is supposedly being made possible by the completion of Globacom’s fibre optic network across the country.

If this happens, I am sure that it would be welcomed with open arms by the public. One can only hope that quality of service will not be compromised.

I am quite skeptical about the claims to crash internet connectivity tariffs, as no mention was made of the medium by which it would be delivered. What is the point of introducing cheap rates when you have to pay a huge sum, say about N25 – 30, 000 (I’m just guessing here) to buy equipment and sign up?

Unless Glo have changed their ways, the GSM operator might also introduce some stringent measures before one can sign up. If they are going to reduce voice rates without the consent of the other networks, does this mean they will be subsidizing interconnectivity rates and will the NCC grant them the go-ahead? More questions than answers!

All in all, we (eagerly?) await the roll out.

The report is available here.

I have held off writing on these issues for a while now but I can’t
just take it anymore. I am thoroughly disappointed (not for the first
time) with MTN and it is a pity that there are no better options out
there. As such, I am stuck with them for now.

My problem with MTN’s voice servicce has more to do with billing than the quality of calls. A few weeks ago, I noticed that any airtime that was left on my line was being deducted sometime after 10pm on a daily basis. As I do not load much credit on the line, I overlooked it initially. But things came to a head when on a particular day I had loaded N750 and barely used N150, the N600 left on my line disappeared shortly after 10pm. I only discovered this when I wanted to make a call.

I was annoyed, to say the least. As I could not get through to Customer Care by voice, I got their (Customer Care) email address from their website and fired off an email. A few days later, I receiveed a reply that said there was nothing wrong with my line and that the credit had not been wrongly deducted.

At this same time, I noticed that while browsing pay-as-you-go my line was not being billed immediately.

For example, if I went online and downloaded 100kb at 11am, my airtime would remain the same, giving the false impression that I was browsing free. Much later in the day, I was eventually billed for the internet access. This prevented me from doing a proper reconciliation of data and voice costs.

Funny enough, a day after they sent me the mail, the whole billing issue stopped. But a week later, it started again. Since then, I have learnt to load the amount of airtime that I need/can use before 10pm. Anytime after that, there is the risk of my account balance reading N0.00.

The data issues are the same recurring ones and it is quite annoying
that they continue unabated. I am currently subscribed to the Night
plan (10pm – 5am) with a 3GB cap but I have barely used 1GB with
barely a week left before it expires. When the network is up, it is
superb most of the time but the sporadic nature of the downtimes are
quite annoying. Moreso it appears that it seems to happen when I have some urgent work to do or deadline to meet.

I believe the introduction of a dedicated data customer care number/email would help in bringing these issues to their notice and aid the quick resolution. I would understand downtimes of a couple of hours but when it runs into 8-10 hours as happened a couple of days ago, that’s unacceptable.

Sadly enough, I dont have a back up plan at the moment. Not that there are any appealing options anyway.

1. Etisalat EDGE is way too expensive
2. Zain 3G is non-existent
3. Glo is trouble laden, and
4. My experience with Starcomms is a story for another day

For now, I am not adventurous enough to spring for any other ISP at this point in time.

I am fed up – and that is putting it mildly.

Is anyone out there having the same problems?