The standard mobile internet configuration for GloMobile subscribers on a data plan is named GloFlat and has the following parametres:

• APN (access point name): gloflat
• Username: flat
• Password: flat

Once you exhaust your bundle plan though, you will find that you are unable to browse on a pay-as-you-go basis with the above configuration. To be able to do that (and have your browsing session billed from your airtime at 5k per second), you require the GloDirect configuration settings, as follows:

• APN (access point name): glosecure
• Username: gprs
• Password: gprs

You can have both settings saved on your device if you think you will be needing both at one point or the other. Then you can switch as required.

Don’t forget, data bundles use GloFlat. Pay-as-you-browse uses GloDirect.

From the break of today the first day of November 2011, the clock began to tick as the countdown begins to the 30 days ultimatum issued by NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission) to Globacom, MTN and Airtel.

The Nigerian Communications Commission has said that it would penalize the three major network operators to the tune of one million naira if they failed to improve service qualities at the end of this month.

The commission carried out independent monitoring exercises of the three networks across the country and found them lacking in performance.

According to a statement by Mr Reuben Muoka, Head, Media and public relations NCC, the commission will stop these operators from further sales of SIM cards by the end of November 2011 if they failed to meet the key performance indicators set by the commission.

These key performance indicators are:

- Call set up success rate

- Call completion rate

- Stand alone dedicated control channel

- Hand over success rate.

Editor’s note: One wonders why data services are never included in NCC’s performance metrics.

In a special partnership, Globacom Nigeria and Nokia run a unique bundle offer for Nokia handsets called Glo Mega Deals that offer users of 7 select Nokia handsets a number of benefits.

There are three specific plans, broken down as follows:

Premium Plan
The Premium Plan offers Nokia N8, E7 and E6 users the following:

• 6GB internet @ N7,500 with a 180 days validity
• Free Calls Everyday from 12AM – 5AM
• Up to 20% extra bonus on recharge
• Chat for free with Whatsapp from the OVI store

Lite Plan
The Lite Plan offers Nokia E5 and C3 users the following:

• 200MB internet @ N1,000 with a 30 day validity
• Free Calls Everyday from 12AM – 5AM
• Up to 20% extra bonus on recharge
• Chat for free with Whatsapp from the OVI store

Classic Plan
The Classic Plan offers Nokia 1616 and 1800 users:

• N200 glo to glo airtime every month for 12 months on recharge of N300 or more monthly
• Free Calls Everyday from 12AM – 5AM
• Up to 20% extra bonus on recharge

Activation

• To enjoy the Nokia Classic Plan: Text “Classic” to 411
• To enjoy the Nokia Lite Plan: Text “Lite” to 411
• To enjoy the Nokia Premium Plan: Text “Premium” to 411

Source

GSM network operator, GloMobile, have launched a new series of internet plans targeted at handsets, smarthones and tablets. The plans are:

• Instant Surf – 24 hour validity, 10MB data, N100. Dial *127*51# to subscribe
• One Week – 7 day validity, 50MB data, N400. Dial *127*52# to subscribe
• Always Micro – 30 day validity, 200MB data, N1,000. Dial *127*53# to subscribe
• Always Macro – 30 day validity, 1GB data, N3,000. Dial *127*54# to subscribe

Customers can also text ‘menu’ to 127 to get more details about the above plans.

Source

It was a stormy and frustrating weekend for GloMobile subscribers who suddenly found their lines without service. Service seems to have been fully restored as at yesterday evening.

Globacom has issued a public announcement on the incident:

The management of Globacom Limited wishes to inform the general public that due to a fire incident which occurred at one of our key installations in Lagos on Thursday night, there has been a temporary disruption in services.

The fire incident has since been brought under control and all efforts have been initiated to quickly restore services.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused our valued customers.

We thank you all for your understanding and support.

Its good to have our lines active once again, and in my opinion Globacom acted fast in restoring operations. Yes; it was painful while it lasted, but all’s well now.

Press release from Globacom:
Globacom on Tuesday, January 11, blazed another trail in the country as it launched the First 4G-LTE network of Nigeria. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a revolutionary Fourth Generation Mobile Technology which enhances the data transfer rates delivering unmatched mobile broadband experience and highest data speeds and reliability.

Globacom’s Group Chief Operating Officer, Mr Mohamed Jameel, (middle) speaking at the launch of Glo 4G LTE in Lagos on January 11. He is flanked by Chief Technical Officer (Engineering) Globacom, Mr Peter Schubert, and Glo Ambassador, Uche Jombo.

LTE is the next step from 3.5G & High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for many users not only those on the GSM technology curve but also for others too, such as CDMA and WiMAX and is touted to offer the path-breaking 4G experience for consumers.

It presents an unimaginable opportunity to deliver lightning fast data speeds in excess of 100Mb/s uplink and 50Mb/s downlink. As such, it will revolutionize deployment of data centric applications, High Definition Video Streaming, HD-Video bridging, Interactive Multiple Gamming, E-Health Care etc.

An elated Group Chief Operating Officer of Globacom, Mr. Mohamed Jameel, told newsmen that though people could already browse the internet or send e-mails using HSPA-enabled systems and send or receive video or music using G phones, the experience with LTE would be even better.

“It will further enhance more demanding applications like interactive TV, mobile video blogging, advanced games or professional services, enable more Nigerians to be on top of their game and thereby ruling their world”, he added.

“For our subscribers, LTE offers the key benefits of performance and capacity”, he said, adding that with its speed and reliability, LTE, more than any other technology, already meets key 4G requirements. He expressed happiness that Globacom was leading the way in introducing another transformational experience in Nigeria as “we have always been in the forefront of providing tools of business success for Nigerians”.

4G-LTE is designed to be backwards-compatible with GSM and HSPA, incorporates Multiple In Multiple Out (MIMO) in combination with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) in the downlink and Single Carrier FDMA in the uplink to provide high levels of spectral efficiency and end user data rates exceeding 100 Mbps. It is also backed with major improvements in capacity and reductions in latency.

The Globacom GCOO also said that there were over 24 networks in the world which had already adapted and launched 4G-LTE networks across the world. “It’s the state of art technology and we will now connect the demanding corporate customers and high data users through the latest 4G-LTE wireless broadband connection to Glo 1 and then the rest of the world,” he noted. He further said that the company was being proactive in meeting the mobile broadband need of its growing subscriber base. “As the data dependence and applications grow, the need to deliver higher speeds on wireless would continue to grow,” Jameel stated.

He disclosed that, by 2012, an estimated 1.8 billion people worldwide would have access to broadband services and that nearly two-thirds of this number would be mobile broadband consumers who would be served by LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks. He said Globacom was committed to bringing all such latest and best technologies available in the world to Nigeria.

Mr Jameel recalled that Globacom led the way in the introduction of cutting edge technology and services in Nigeria. Prominent among the innovations which Globacom pioneered are the Per Second Billing, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Magic Plus, Glo Direct, Glo Mobile Internet, Glo Fleetmanager, M-Banking, Glo Mobile Office, Africhat, Glo Foneplas, all running on a superior 2.5G network at roll-out. The company also introduced Blackberry to Nigeria long before others began to join the train and equally pioneered 3.5G commercial roll-out in the country.

Source

Tariffs and telecomm products are one of those things that have always spirals downwards in Nigeria, no matter how much inflation spirals, telecoms prices keep dropping.

On the heels of MTN new tariffs, Globacom have just launched a new set of voice/SMS tariff plans, labelled; More Classic, More Prime, More Business, and More Power. Those who live in Lagos can now rejoice, as they are not currently enjoying the Glo Infinito package which was recently introduced in twenty four states. Of course, Lagos was excluded. While a few individuals resident in Lagos have reported that they are active on the plan, I tried it but I was still billed based on the old rate.

The benefits of the new Glo plans include:

• Uniform Tariff to ALL Networks
• NO Rentals
• NO Condition offers, NO complications
• Huge savings
• No Deposit, Instant Access, Cost control
• Offers instant connectivity and International Direct Dialing facility

We are still waiting for the changes that Barti Airtel of India (the new owners of Zain Nigeria) are going to introduce. We are also still waiting for Glo to implement the reduced internet subscription prices that they promised.

This is the time for the operators to fight and the time for subscribers to smile.

More details on Glo’s new voice/SMS plans are available on the Glo website.

GloMobile has introduced a special BlackBerry package, dubbed BlackBerry U, which offers the lowest uniform tariff structure for Prepaid BlackBerry users on any network in the country.

With BlackBerry U, all existing and new Glo prepaid Blackberry subscribers can now enjoy a call rate of N25 per minute or 42 kobo per second for all calls including Glo-to-Glo and Glo to other networks as against the present N42 per minute or 70 kobo per second.

This makes Glo BIS the best BlackBerry internet service deal in Nigeria at the moment. BlackBerry uptake on the Glo network and in the country is likely to witness an increase because of this.

Steps to Get Started

Step 1:
Activate any blackberry prepaid package from Glo by sending the keyword of the package of choice to 777, e.g., Text ‘BISMONTH’ to 777 for the monthly prepaid blackberry package. Here are the available BIS packages on the Glo network:

*All plans are “unlimited”, but there is a fair usage policy on them all, so don’t go downloading heaven and earth.

Step 2:
Once the Prepaid Blackberry package of choice has been activated, simply text “U” to 7070 to begin enjoying the lowest call rate at N25/min or 42k/sec.

Non-BlackBerry Smartphones Supported

In a surprising twist, Glo says that apart from BlackBerry devices, BlackBerry Connect software on which BlackBerry U runs can also work with devices from manufacturers such as HTC (Only factory pre-installed models of HTC TyTN II, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro and HD), Nokia (E90, E61, E61i, E70, E51, E65) and Sony Ericsson (P1i, W950, Xperia X1).

These devices can also be configured to access niche packages which BlackBerry devices provide. These include connection to push email and access to social sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Telecommunications giant Globacom has put up a new design for their website. It is still the same address www.gloworld.com. It looks good with the fancy transitions and menus. Plus you get to see all the famous faces from Nollywood and show biz (dubbed Glo Ambassadors) in general. But it is ten steps backwards in terms of providing information on the company’s products and services.

How retro can things get?

No more info on tariffs, promos, value-added services – there’s just no useful info there for customers. Just boring corporate yarn. Plus, every now and then visitors are told to “contact us“, and a click to the contact page provides a phone number, email address and the corporate headquarters address.

Okay, they do have a dedicated “customer care” page that says “please give us a shout on 121 or 200, or simply send an email to customercare@gloworld.com“. Yes, and thankfully, there’s a “Find a Store” page that lists all Gloworld outlets.

But the gist is still that you get nothing out of this website besides further directions to wear yourself out trying to find out something as simple as the available voice, SMS and data plans on their network. Life just got easier for Glo subscribers. No kidding.

Excuse me, but when we visit a site like this, we want to be able to access info on “everything” (like obtains on MTN’s website, Zain’s website, Etisalat’s website, Visafone’s website, and on the old Glo website!) without having to dial a number unsuccessfully (no-one at the office here has been able to get through to 121 in over 6 months), or send an email that will not be responded to, or drive down to Victoria Island or some other remote location. What were these guys thinking?

Somebody at Glo HQ has convinced the executives there that what Glo needs is to ignore their customers and instead target other businesses. This new design is a business-to-business job. The customer is not in view.

Bad idea. Very, very bad idea. Glo, you can do better than this.

On the heels of Glo’s Biiig Dash promo allowing prepaid subscribers to make unlimited Glo to Glo calls for only N40 daily, Glo sent out an SMS to its post-paid subscribers as follows:

Dear customer,

Very soon we are launching “Biiig Dash” on post paid so that you can enjoy unlimited Glo to Glo free calls on your existing post paid line. Happy talking.

Glo

GSM mobile operator, GloMobile, has announced a promo that allows their subscribers to make free on-net calls for a daily rental of N40.00 only. Basically, Glo subscribers can call other Glo lines all they want for just N40 daily. Exciting prospects, we say.

Dubbed “Glo Biiiig Dash”, GloMobile claims to be revolutionalising the telecoms sector with this promo.

But is it really that revolutionary?

For example, another GSM operator Etisalat has been running a promo that allows their own subscribers get back every minute spent on-net in calls. Basically, this means that Etisalat subscribers are making free on-net calls too – and without a daily rental or any other fee.

Perhaps, the Glo Biiiig Dash promo is in reality a response to Etisalat’s? Anyways, we agree that the competition is good.

To activate your Glo line for the Biiiig Dash promo, dial *100*1*1# from your phone. The rental of N40 will be deducted from your airtime daily and you can call all your contacts and Glo for as long as you want without attracting any further charges.

When NITEL was recently put up for sale for the umpteenth time, I expressed the absurdity of Globacom’s interest in purchasing NITEL. Both NITEL and Globacom are national operators – and they are the only two. It simply would be counter-productive to allow such a purchase take place. We would simply return to a state of monopoly.

Thankfully, the NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission) and BPE (Bureau of Public Enterprises) have taken steps to ensure that such a purchase does not happen. Excerpts from the news item:

For instance, Globacom was told that by virtue of its Second National Operator (SNO) licence, it cannot buy NITEL as a whole unit, as this “would leave Globacom with two SNO licences and would hence, be anti-competition”. Chigbo Anichebe, the spokesperson for the BPE, explains, “Because of Globacom’s SNO licence, they will not be allowed to also bid for the domestic fixed telephony lines, as they already have the licence to operate their own.” The company cannot also bid for SAT-3, as applies to Etisalat and MTN.

“The Nigeria telecom operators, that is, MTN, Etisalat, Zain and Glo shall not be allowed to purchase the mobile arm, M-TEL, since they presently hold Digital Mobile Licence and General System for Mobile (DML/GSM) licences. To the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the purchase of M-TEL by any of the present GSM licence holders would present competition challenges and will conflict with regulatory guidelines and licensing conditions.”

Interestingly, the CEO of one of the operators was quoted as saying, “We are surprised that the BPE and NCC could do such.”

I am at a loss as to what exactly is surprising about these decisions. Why would an operator want to hold two GSM licences? To what purpose? Why would a sane regulator allow an existing national operator to take over the only other national operator?

Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, the president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, summed it up well when he said, “Globacom is already a second national carrier and the firm has the licence to operate the same services as NITEL. The telecoms sector must have sanity, when a company gets really too big and too powerful with a large coverage, that can affect competition in the industry.”

Good move by the NCC and BPE.

Source: 234next.com