If you have lived in this country for any significant period of time, you must have experienced what I call “ISP blues”. Basically, that means you must have been disappointed by epileptic internet services at some point in time or the other. In all likelihood, you must have toyed with the idea of changing service providers too.

One of the dilemma of changing ISPs here is that you are not so sure if the new guys you are considering cover your present location, and if service there is reliable.

When I first wrote my article, Mobile Data: Bridging The Internet Divide In Africa, back in 2005 (also re-published here on Mobility in 2008), one of the factors that I considered in making some of the forecasts that I did is the flexibility attached to GSM-based mobile services.

Permit me to explain how that plays out in this scenario.

You want to subscribe to a new service that is CDMA-based. There is no way to determine availability and/or reliability in your area. For the most part, the ISP themselves do not have accurate information on this either.

If you do not have a neighbour who uses that service in the same vicinity, you are effectively at the mercy of fate.

If you were considering a GSM-based service, however, you could simply purchase a SIM for N150, register it, put it in any internet-enabled phone lying around, load just N1,000 and activate a 100MB data plan and use that to test the service.

If you are not satisfied, simply repeat the process with another service provider. If/when satisfied, you can then splurge out more cash on a modem or mifi device for PC use. Of course, if your phone has a built-in modem or Wi-Fi hotspot, you can retain the SIM in your phone.

This sort of flexibility, alongside other factors, make GSM-based internet connectivity very appealing for a wide range of users.

Android fanboys are quick to jump to their favourite OS’ defence when we mention its data guzzling weakness.

I have published articles here to show that Android OS guzzles much more data than any other mobile OS – even when it is idle. I have owned and reviewed several Android devices and seen data consumption that is simply outrageous even when I am not doing anything with the devices.

I remember a particular discussion on this blog during which someone said that he had been using Android and had never had data issues. However, several comments down the line, he mentioned that he managed data consumption on his Android devices with certain 3rd party apps. That was hilarious! I was quite decent and let it pass without a comment from me – till now.

Well, here is news that finally a network operator is calling Google out on Android’s data consumption levels. Japan’s largest network, NTT DoCoMo is reported to be asking Google to reduce the amount of data its mobile OS consumes after a recent disruption to their network caused by an android app.

If anyone should know about data consumption, it is DoCoMo. You see, they are one of the world’s most advanced networks. They are also a network that have had tons of Symbian-powered devices used on their networks (Japan’s advanced mobile networks have been mostly dominated for years by Symbian-powered phones).

DoCoMo knows the difference.

Now, this is not a Symbian versus Android article. It is an article to make a case that is so obvious that NO-ONE should be arguing it – Android is a data guzzling beast.

An excerpt from the news item:

NTT DoCoMo Inc will ask Google Inc to modify its Android operating system so that smartphones running on it will generate less data traffic, the Nikkei reported.

The leading Japanese mobile phone service provider identified an Android application, which enables free-of-charge voice communication, as a major cause behind a service disruption that occurred on Wednesday, the business daily said.

This is probably the first time that any mobile operator is approaching a smartphone operating system provider to amend how its software operates. Telling.

But does this make Android a failure? No.

Does this mean that Android is a terrible OS? No.

Should anyone stop using Android phones because of that? Their choice.

But facts are facts.

It is better that potential users and buyers know upfront what they are getting, so that they can make informed decisions. Nothing more. Android guzzles data (and power too). Yes; it can be managed. If that’s okay with you, buy. If not, get something else.

Now, where is my Android-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro? I was in the middle of a WhatsApp chat….

Source via TNW

The following was submitted by our regular, Harry Echemco:

I just got this text from Airtel:

Re-live exciting browsing moments with the NEW Airtel Surf Plan. Dial *141*712*12# to enjoy 500MB worth of data for N1300 only valid for 30 days!

Any other person in the house got the same message? I’ve not confirmed this from their website or elsewhere, if this is true, then this year is going to be wonderful in the mobile space, notwithstanding the fuel subsidy removal.

My present plan on Etisalat runs out on the 9th of next month, I will be able to tell then, but I hope this is not repeat of what they did last year. In any case, I’m going to confirm this before subscribing to the plan.

Personally, I haven’t received such a message on my Airtel line yet, but who wouldn’t hope that this is true? The ripple effects would be nice for consumers’ pockets.

Have you received a similar message from Airtel, or have access to any info to confirm the above?

In the wake of increasing co-ordinated protests around the country against the fuel subsidy removal, feelers are that the government of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria have issued directives to mobile operators to shut down Blackberry services in the country.

Mobility blog has been unable to confirm this information, but the press is awash with it anyway.

If such a directive has indeed been given, it will appear that the Nigerian government are aware that mobile is mightier than the gun in today’s world. Mobile devices were critical to some of the well co-ordinated public protests in a number of countries in recent times, including the united Kingdom, Tunisia, and Egypt.

According to The Punch’s Twitter handle, protest organisers are asking Nigerians to download the CNN ireport apps from other phones and use those to send stories and pictures if BIS (Blackberry Internet Service) is shut tomorrow Tuesday.

Some protesters were arrested today in Abuja and kept in custody at the anti-robbery unit there.

Several more peaceful protests have been scheduled in major cities and towns across Nigeria for tomorrow.

It is the end of the year. The majority of people are out shopping for Christmas and for the New Year. Some of that shopping is bound to include mobiles; right?

I have been taking a look at the current mobile landscape in Nigeria and I thought I would suggest a few things to our readers in terms of both devices and internet plans.

Service Plan

If you are looking for the best mobile internet deal in the country right now, look no further than Etisalat’s BlackBerry Complete plan.

Details

• BlackBerry Messenger
• Internet Browsing
• One web based email
• One BB email
• Social networks
• Instant Messaging
• BB App World
• There is no data cap i.e. unlimited downloads
• 20k/sec on calls to any network in Nigeria
• Cost: N1,500 per month

While several mobile operators offer monthly bundle plans that cost between N1,000 and N1,600, the data cap of 100-200 MB means that you are pretty limited. Other networks also offer Blackberry Complete plans, but only Etisalat gives you unlimited internet access.

Etisalat’s Blackberry Complete gives you the full BlackBerry internet Suite (though limited to only one email account, which will serve for most people), and no data cap on your usage.

Devices

If you don’t do lots of browsing on your mobile, any blackberry smartphone will do. Get the cheapest, the 8520 Curve (no 3G), and enjoy. Budget: N27,000 – N30,000.

If you do need 3G service, the cheapest is the 9300 Curve 3G. Budget: N40,000 – N45,000.

If you do a lot of web browsing on your mobile, a larger display is indispensable. As such you might want to get a BlackBerry device with a larger display e.g. the Torch 9860 (3.7-inch, 480 x 800 pixel full touchscreen) to use with this plan.

The Torch 9860 is a capable device that runs a 1.2GHz processor, 768 MB RAM and 2.5GB internal storage. There is an excellent web browser on board, and great media consumption features. It supports DivX/XviD out of the box and packs a 5 megapixel, auto-focus camera.

This device will set you back about N80,000.

Other Scenarios

Should you also need internet service on your laptop and other computing device, you can get a modem or mifi and activate one of the available plans ranging from 1.5GB to 6GB monthly for that purpose. I recommend that you get that service from an alternative network just so you don’t have a single point of failure.

However, it is your choice at the end of the day. You can also subscribe to one of the available Easyblaze plans on the same line that your BlackBerry is using – and then use that line and device as a modem with your PC.

Let’s say you have the BB Complete Plan running for N1,500, and also subscribe for a regular internet bundle for N4,000 (1.5GB), that’s a total of N5,500 for your monthly needs.

Each person’s mileage will vary.

If your employers provide a PC and internet access at work, you may not seriously need the regular internet bundle. In which case, with nothing more than the BlackBerry Complete plan and a Blackberry smartphone, your mobile internet needs are fully covered.

Conclusions

The purpose of this piece is not to force a single solution down everyone’s throat. But if you are concerned about the cost of your monthly internet subscription, you may want to consider this.

Disclaimer: Think about your needs and preferences in making purchases. What I have recommended here may not be what floats your boat.

Back in September, Etisalat Nigeria launched Easyblaze, a mobile broadband 3.75G/HSPA platform. Since then, I have used Easyblaze consistently. Here is a brief account of my experience with the service.

Where’s the 3G?

One of the first issues I ran into after the launch was that I couldn’t get an Etisalat 3G signal on my mobile. Nothing that I did worked. All I got was a GSM/EDGE connection.

I eventually complained to a staff of Etisalat, who enlightened me that 3G is not activated on lines until a plan has been subscribed to. In other words, I needed to subscribe to one Easyblaze plan to get the 3G service.

Of course, I wondered why this piece of information was not made public or put on any FAQ document then.

Anyway, I subscribed to an Easyblaze plan, and just as explained, 3G came live on my Etisalat line.

Subscribing to Easyblaze

Subscribing is easy. You load the required amount of airtime and dial the specified code for the package of your choice.

Speed

Easyblaze is fast. Very fast. I have been blown away by the speed. It beats anything I ever got from MTN, Airtel, Visafone, Multilinks, Zoom, or Starcomms.

Notice that I left GloMobile out of that list. Yes; the only other mobile internet service that has delivered that kind of speed when it works is Glo. The operative phrase there is “when it works”. You see, QoS on Glo’s mobile internet (and Glo’s everything) has been really bad of recent that.

Reliability

Easyblaze is good for everything you need to do with an internet connection – web browsing, email, social networking, downloads, the works!

For the most part, Easyblaze works. However, once in a while, it simply goes AWOL (Absent WithOut Leave) and does not connect. One time, it went AWOL all night, which was rather frustrating.

Another time, it was several hours. The annoyances have increased of recent, though contacts in Etisalat cite cut cables and the like for the disruptions and say things are being fixed.

I hope that things get fixed. Subscribers will be delighted to have one network that they can depend on.

Conclusions

This is an account of my experience with Easyblaze. Your experience may differ, depending on your location.

I am still using Easyblaze as my primary mobile internet service, which is saying something. It is less schizophrenic than any of the other mobile internet services that I have used – and I have used all of them.

Do I recommend that you give Easyblaze a try? Yes; I do. Can I guarantee a good experience at your end? That would be between you and the guys at Etisalat.

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.

Opera Mobile for Symbian has received an update to version 11.5.1 with the following features:

- Added predictive text input and language choice in search field
- Improved stability in out of memory situations
- Fixed issues with browser freezing
- Fixed issues with browser when Opera Link is enabled
- Fixed issues with text selection and cut/copy/paste
- Fixed issues with reappearing search engines after deletion
- Fixed issues with selecting text using Up/Down navigation keys
- Fixed issues with third-party input keyboards (QQ, Baidu, Sougou)

This update is available today for download from m.opera.com, and will shortly be available in the Nokia Store.

Source

That the Android OS has a ravenous appetite for data is no news. Android users keep tearing their hair out as a result of the data guzzling nature of the OS.

Take a look at this U.S. data usage chart from Nielsen:

You can access the full Nielsen article here, if interested. Speaking of the various data usage activities engaged in, Nielsen reports:

But while a higher proportion of iPhone owners engage in these kinds of activities, consumers with Android devices who engage in these activities consume more data on average.

This is from a U.S. report, but our own in-house consumer surveys here at The Mobility Company here in Nigeria pretty much tallies. Android is the undisputed mobile OS data guzzling king.

What makes it more pertinent here is that many consumers use their mobiles as the primary point of access to the internet. This is in contrast to what obtains in the US where the majority have access to PCs, Wifi and cable internet. The likelihood of seeing higher mobile data consumption rates here is strong.

An Example

I was recently contacted by one such user who had recently converted to Android. She reported that her droid was using up 1 GB data plan in two weeks. On my recommendation, she disabled Background Data and subscribed to a 25MB plan to see how things would go. Her feedback was that 25MB was used up within a day, even though she had her smartphone switched off for a few hours.

If you really do want to use Android but don’t have deep pockets for data subscription, you must be ready to nurse your device. There is no way around this.

Tips To Manage Mobile Data Usage On Android & Save Money

I have a few tips to help you manage data consumption on your Android smartphone and save you some cash (please send some my way, in the spirit of give and take).

1. You can turn off Background Data in the settings menu. Note though that when you need to sync or check your mail, your smartphone will ask you to turn it back on.
2. Download a 3rd party app to restrict data usage on certain apps and services.
   These apps generally tell you how much data you are using, or when an app is using a lot of data in the background. Some also let you block specific apps on 3G or shut off 3G data when they exceed a cap that you set, or limit data usage on certain apps to Wi-Fi only. There are dozens of them available in the Android Market, but you can start out with Onavo.
3. For web browsing, forget the stock browser, do yourself a favour and install Opera Mini
4. Install an app manager and shut down any app that requires an internet connection if you wont be using it.

By implementing the above tips, you may cut down your device’s data usage significantly. If the above tips are too much for you, then you have no business purchasing an Android smartphone. No?

Did I miss out anything?

Etisalat Nigeria has announced a reduction in their EasyBlaze tariffs, as follows:

200MB – N1,000 – Dial *229*2*6#
500MB – N2,000 – Dial *229*2*2#
1.5GB – N4,000 – Dial *229*2*4#
Night & Weekend – N4,000 – Dial *229*3*3#

To check your data balance anytime – just dial *228#

Opera Software has announced the availability of Opera Mini 6.5. This latest version of the server compression based browser is available for java-compatible phones, as well as smartphones running Symbian, BlackBerry and iOS.

Opera Mobile 11.5 has also been released for Symbian users.

To download, point your mobile browser at mini.opera.com.

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.