Here is my updated list of the best mobile internet deals at the moment. Because we currently have two types of mobile platforms running side-by-side in the country (GSM and CDMA), I am presenting one network per technology platform.

Both networks on my list offer a variety of packages, giving subscribers great choice in their respective terrains. Both networks also give subscribers the option of browsing directly on their phone or on PC (netbook, laptop, desktop, etc)

Zain Nigeria

Zain is a GSM-based mobile operator. Zain Mobile Internet is delivered on GPRS, EDGE (up to 234kbps), 3G and HSDPA (up to 1.8mbps), depending on coverage in your locality. Zain’s packages:

1. Pay As You Use
No bundle
Cost: 15kobo per kilobyte

2. Zain Day (24-hour bundle)
Bundled Data: 50MB
Cost: N500.00
Activation: Load N500 and dial: *141*712*3#

3. Zain Lite (24-hour bundle)
Bundled Data: 100MB
Cost: N1,000.00
Activation: Load N1,000 and dial: *141*712*4#

4. Zain Pro (24 hours for 30 days)
Bundled Data: 1GB
Cost: N5,000.00
Activation: Load N5,000 and dial: *141*712*1

5. Zain Max (24 hours for 30 days)
Bundled Data: 3GB
Cost: N10,000.00
Activation: Load N10,000 and dial: *141*712*2#

Zain Mobile Internet (ZMI) must be active on your line before you can subscribe to any of the above plans.

To activate ZMI, visit a Zain centre, call Customer Care on 113 or send an SMS with the word ‘internet phonebrand model’ to 232 e.g. “internet sonyericsson P910i” to receive your settings.

ZOOMmobile

ZOOMmobile is a CDMA-based operator, deploying both CDMA 1x (50Kbps – 100Kbps Upload and Download with bursts to 144Kbps) and EVDO Rev A (600Kbps-1,400Kbps Download with bursts to 2.0Mbps; 500Kbps-800Kbps Upload with bursts to 1.8Mbps), also depending on your location. ZOOMmobile internet packages include:

1. Easy Time (24 hours for 30 days)
Bundled Data: Unlimited
Cost: N10,000.00

2. Busy Time (24 hours for 14 days)
Bundled Data: Unlimited
Cost: N5,000.00

3. Rest Time (11pm to 6am for 30 days)
Bundled Data: Unlimited
Cost: N5,000.00

4. Relax Time (6pm to 11pm for 30 days)
Bundled Data: Unlimited
Cost: N5,000.00

5. Cool Time (Friday 8pm to Sunday 10pm for 30 days)
Bundled Data: Unlimited
Cost: N5,000.00

6. Day Time (8am to 6pm for 30 days)
Bundled Data: Unlimited
Cost: N7,000.00

Subscription for all above ZOOMmobile plans can be done at any ZOOMmobile centre.

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

This is a rant, and it was triggered off by a comment posted at All About Symbian by someone who calls himself Natureboyzone. Here is what he posted:

Hi.i am new to the forum.i use N76 and my network is mtn nigeria.how do i activate it for free browsing.i also heard about the data call pls send me the settings or link me up with someone who can help.thanks

If you follow the AAS link I provided above, you would see that the topic under discussion has nothing to do with configuration settings, muchless free browsing. Note also that he is new to a community, and the first thing he does is this.

I see this embarassing, beggarly attitude on different forums, including foreign ones like Esato and My-Symbian (My-Symbian has a number of Nigerian IP addresses blocked already).

Here on the homefront, Nairaland is has the worst hit mobile community. Over 95% of the exchanges there are about free browsing on GSM networks. It is almost impossible to find an intelligent discussion to engage in the mobile forum there.

Here on MobilityNigeria, we keep stressing that we have no such information to give, but these desperate young men (and women) keep mailing in to request for free browsing tricks and information. As a responsible business and as responsible individuals, we cannot promote practices that undermine the business of others. But that is beyond the point of this article.

What I am bothered about is the nuisance that these free browsing beggars have become everywhere on the WWW, and the bad publicity that they generate for Nigeria. It is bad!

People are having an intelligent discussion, and then someone barges in, begging for free browsing tricks. Sigh. I can imagine that various well-known mobile figures around the world would have received private mails from Nigerian hounds looking for free (illegal) browsing hacks and tricks.

What is more shocking is the fact that the majority of those who jump on the free ride don’t put it to productive uses (See my article published in November 2008: The Free Browsing Tricks on Mobile Networks).

Get productive, guys. Put innovation to work. Get off your butts and do something to better your lot and that of the country you live in. Stop begging and hitch-hiking. Okay, its fine to hitch-hike the first few legs of your journey if things are really bad for you. But build from there, and get off that road ASAP.

I remember using CSD (circuit switched data) years back when call and data both cost N50.00 per minute (anyone remember those days?) to manage my emails, customer orders and support in the early days of my webhosting business. Even at that exhorbitant cost, I put it to profitable use and built something out of it. Circuit Switched Data is the technical name for GSM dial-up.

Thereafter, GPRS (and later 3G) arrived and was much costlier than what we have on ground today. Yet; I still put it to productive use.

Today, we see an army of young people using cost as an excuse (excuse me?) to defend what is largely a product of irresponsibility. I am under no illusions that this article of mine will produce any change. I’ll bet my entire year’s income that this article will be read, noses raised at me, and the hunt further pursued.

But at least, I have had my say. And hopefully, maybe one – just one – of these free browsing hunters will be awakened through what I have written here, and choose to stand apart, get responsible, and do something really productive with his or her life.

Maybe.

PS: Zain has just concluded a month-long free internet promo, and I am sure we will be hard pressed to find a handful of young people who put the promo to real productive use – not just chatting up babes and posting unintelligent comments on discussion boards and weblogs. Not that Zain’s very epileptic internet access helped matters though, but that’s a subject for another article.