Browsing through the Monday January 18, 2010 issue of The Punch, I came across this promo advert for the Samsung OMNIAlite B7300 and Samsung OMNIApro B7320.

Samsung Introducing enLITEn: A unique handset internet bundle service in Nigeria

Buy the Samsung OMNIAlite B7300 or Samsung OMNIApro B7320 and get FREE 12 months internet access on the Zain Lite Plan featuring 1.2GB Data Allowance and 360 days validity.

Get the Samsung OMNIApro B7320 (shown below) for N49,999.00

Or get the Samsung OMNIAlite B7300 (shown below) for N59,999.00.

This offer is available at all Zain shops and selected Samsung Distributor Shops nationwide.

My View of the Promo
I have never been a fan of buying mobile phones that are linked to mobile operators. My last experience at the CarPhoneWareHouse in September 2007 left me with a phone that was locked to the network, had a few accessories missing from the package (cost-cutting tactics, I was later on told) and had to replace it once because it was faulty and thereafter the phone decided to give me problems with Nigerian networks despite having the same frequency.

As a cheap skate and one who is always paranoid of being ripped off, I have to say that this promo is a JOKE because getting the Samsung OMNIApro B7320 from a trusted Samsung dealer will set you back N36, 500 which is clearly N13,500 less than Zain’s offer price!

This past post shows evidence of that: Samsung B7320 smartphone for sale.

It is like paying N13,500 for internet service of 1.2GB Data Allowance and 360 days validity which has been proven to be unreliable in most quarters.

Just my two cents anyway. For all interested parties, simply visit your nearest Zain shops. As always GSM Arena has got the full specs for the Samsung OMNIAlite B7300 and Samsung OMNIApro B7320.

You can also read a MobilityNigeria review of one of these phones Samsung B7320 OmniaPRO review – Efficient Workhorse.

Zain now offers a monthly unlimited internet access plan for offices and homes. Called Zain Premium Plan, there is no monthly data cap on this service, similar to what CDMA networks like Starcomms offer. Finally, a GSM network steps up to the “unlimited” plate.

The package costs N15, 000 per month. all you have to do is load N15, 000 worth of airtime, and then dial *141*712*5# to activate the plan. Once activated, the subscriber has one month access to unlimited internet access.

Speed and performance depends on location, as Zain 3G is very limited at present. But outside of 3G coverage, subscribers will be able to browse via EDGE (180-240 kbps theoretical maximum speed), or GPRS (70 kbps theoretical maximum speed).

This is a good move by Zain. Now, if experience is anything to go by, we should expect the others to photocopy and join the unlimited bundle bandwagon. Which is not a bad thing at all. The consumer wins!

Ahem! In the meantime, we hope that the guys at Zain are working at providing wider 3G coverage. This is 2009, guys, and crawly GPRS is killing… slowly…

I was at a Zain shop this morning on some business. During the course of my stay there, I got to know from a representative that official provisioning/activation for Zain full internet (not WAP) is available for a one-time setup fee of N1, 000 only.

If you are a Zain subscriber and have been having issues with getting full internet access on your line, walk into a Zain shop with N1, 000 to request for activation.

I am not sure why, but articles on Zain Mobile Internet are extremely popular on Mobility Nigeria. As a matter of fact, the top two items in terms of page views on this site are about Zain Mobile Internet.

Perhaps, part of the reason for their popularity can be attributed to the elusiveness of full internet service on prepaid lines. For quite a while, Zain Nigeria’s official policy is that only WAP is available to prepaid subscribers. This means POP3/IMAP mail cannot be used, and instant messaging apps won’t work, among others. See: From Celtel to Zain; GPRS further restricted, published in August last year.

Earlier this year, I demonstrated that with minimal tweaking, email (POP/IMAP) indeed works on the Zain network (Zain Data works on Phones for Web and Email). But IM apps didn’t.

Last Saturday, however, I receeived an SMS from Zain stating in part:

New from Zain! Internet Browsing, MMS & downloads now possible on your handset!

That sounded to me like Zain had done a rethink of their rather backward policy of limiting prepaid lines to WAP access only. I had some spare time yesterday and dashed over to the nearest Zain outlet, where I requested for full internet provisioning.

I was told that the system was problematic, but the guy I spoke with took down my details anyway. I got home around 5p.m. today and a few minutes later, I received an SMS configuration on my device. I saved it, took a peek and saw full internet settings.

In a few minutes, I was chatting on Yahoo Messenger via Slick, checking my mails, and doing all sorts of stuff. No tweaks. Just straight out-of-the-box.

There’s still neither EDGE nor 3G at my location. Yes; its gross. This is Lagos, where every other 3G-enabled network has almost seamless coverage.

So, it is official. Full internet is now available for prepaid subscribers on the Zain network. By the way, I got another SMS announcing that Blackberry service is also now available for prepaid subscribers.

Hop over to a Zain centre and specify that you want full internet service activated on your line. Then you can forget about using proxies in order to be able to browse on your PC. Alternatively, send SMS in the format, “internet sonyericsson P910i”, to 232 to get activated. If it doesn’t work, keep trying.

For those who may find the Zain internet configuration settings useful, here they are:

APN: internet.ng.zain.com
Username: internet
Password: internet
IP/Proxy: None

Well done, Zain. You are late, but hey, we’ll still throw a welcome party! And while we are at it, please extend EDGE and 3G coverage some more please.

Update: Official Zain Internet Provisioning: An Update