How long does 10mb of data last on your mobile?

Have you ever subscribed to the 10 megabyte data allowance offered by our mobile service providers? I must say that I have times without number and it has served me well. The problem is that it is so small that I soon exhaust it. Sometimes, I feel there’s another me who accesses the internet with my phone.

10mb currently costs N100 on my network. This data is expected to last for 24 hours. Kindly divide that by 12. I use a Nokia 5250 (Symbian Device) and I’m still very pleased with it’s services and features (I’m not stale though).

If all that I do on my smartphone is read and reply mails, access social networks and chat, a 10mb bundle lasts me about 10 hours. But that isn’t possible for me any more! I have to blog, tweet, chat, make few downloads (apps, games, themes), study on Wikipedia and some other important stuff that I can’t remember now. 10mb of data is far too small! It only lasts for nothing more than 4 hours.

Imagine buying 10mb of data twice daily for 5 days in a week. Know how much that is altogether? Honestly, it drains the wallet! Like the BIS, there should be a special and low-cost internet package for other smartphone users. It’s unfair!

It is not unfair. As I have pointed out several times, BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) uses a compression service that takes a lot of the burden off the network’s capacity. This makes special low rates very convenient. Just petition Google to implement something similar for their services and problem is solved for Android users. No hope for Symbian. Perhaps Apple and Microsoft can implement similar for iOS and Windows Phone too? – Editor-in-Chief

How long does 10mb of data last on your mobile? Let’s have your view.

Old Comments:

This article was originally published in 2012. We are embedding old comments here.

1.  Cyril says:October 3, 2012 at 3:55 pm. Are you aware that certain people activate BIS plans and stick them in none RIM Devices? The Network I referenced in my last article (that I moved to) has a stated cap that is never enforced on their BIS plan. Enuff said. Hardchild Out
2.  Harry Echemco says:October 3, 2012 at 4:29 pm. This argument of RIM’s compression being the reason for offering Blackberry users special mouth-watering packages while other smartphone users are generally ignored is not very sound. For instance, I’m presently on Airtel’s BB Social plan which gives the user some BB specific benefits while capping their data usage at 1GB.Compression or no compression, a BB user on Airtel network who subscribed to the BB Social plan, if he or she succeeds in exhausting the 1GB data allowance will have the same effect on the Airtel network as me using Android phone with the same plan so long as all I consumed is the same 1GB of data within that same 30 days.I can’t see how RIM’s compression technology will make any difference to Airtel’s network when a BB user is involved, as against any other smartphone user.
3.  martinkem says:October 3, 2012 at 4:30 pm. 10mb is far too small for me to do anything with.. That’s why buying a 250mb plan makes more sense.
   On my samsung galaxy s2 i use the airtel bis plan which gives me 1gb for 1400.
4.  Mister Mo says:October 3, 2012 at 5:18 pmHarry,Here’s the concise explanation: research shows that operators can have three BlackBerry smartphones on their network, which will employ the same data spectrum as just one other leading smartphone.See that benefit to the operators? in other words, an Blackberry smartphone consumes one third what an Android or iOS smartphone consumes under same usage scenario. Blackberry’s DataSmart compression technology makes that possible. Meaning, having BlackBerry users is more cost-effective for operators than having other smartphones.This is a fact that has been established for years. Go Google up if you want all the more technical details.
5.  good says:October 3, 2012 at 5:33 pm10 mb is too small for me, i spend more than 1gig a month.
6.  eye_bee_kay says:October 3, 2012 at 5:39 pmMeaning, having BlackBerry users is more cost-effective for operators than having other smartphones.Not necessarily!Look at it this way. lots of people get on the BlackBerry platform do as to use up lots of downloading and streaming.One non_BlackBerry smartphone users 3X amount of dataThree BlackBerry smartphones use 1XSame result..
7.  Harry Echemco says:October 3, 2012 at 5:56 pmSome guys here on Mobility have stated that what drew them to the BB platform was the unlimited data plan enjoyed by BB users on some networks and one in particular once said that he had already exceeded 5GB of data downloads – not browsed – just to prove that the plan was truly unlimited. Now how is such downloads likely going to help the operators’ network better than me then limited to only 260MB?What possible benefits do you think that RIM’s compression technology will offer to alter the download size of a 700MB .iso Linux OS to benefit the Operators as against when such downloads is made with another device running a certain OS.If not for software downloads and books or generally downloads outside normal webpage browsing, 100MB will be more than enough for me using Opera Mini browser. So, this RIM compression technology is simply overrated.Fact is, lots of people jumped on BB so they can be awash with data for downloading and streaming! The average BB user in fact consumes more data as a result!
8.  Mister Mo says:October 3, 2012 at 6:00 pmEyeBeeKay, you win, o jere.
9.  Mister Mo says:October 3, 2012 at 6:02 pmWhich lots of people are you referring to? The tiny minority of geeks who make up part of those who frequent blogs like this one?But, hey, you win!
10.  eye_bee_kay says:October 3, 2012 at 6:09 pmYeeee, when I just went to drink Power Horse to withstand the cannon coming my way? this IS unfair o!
11.  eye_bee_kay says:October 3, 2012 at 6:13 pmSeriously…I guess we are talking about the QUANTUM of data passing through the network?My argument is..the QUANTUM of data is the product of number of devices times average volume of data device.BlackBerry encourages more profligate data consumption.So, same result!It is that straightforward..
12.  Noni says:October 3, 2012 at 10:29 pmI think the objective of the 10MB daily allowance is a kind of “in case of emergencies”. It’s priced so as not to be used as a regular thing – that’s what monthly/weekly bundles are for.I’ve used a 10MB allowance as a “bridge” between bundles, or for a brief period on another line. To me the issues before taking a 10MB were connectivity and how best to use it; I’ve taken out a bundle only to realise I couldn’t connect to the network for the majority of the day.I don’t think the daily bundle was designed to do anything apart from the basics – check your mail and maybe browse and access social networks. For anything more, spend more money.
13.  Austine Ezemelue says:October 4, 2012 at 2:44 pmThe 10MB data bundle is for emergencies or intermittent use. So the arithmetic. If you use it everyday for 30 days,that’s N3,000 for 300MB. It hardly makes economic sense, when N1,000 will give you 200MB for 30 days. If you exhaust the 200MB before 30 days elapses you can buy another one making a total of 400MB. And if you use more than that in a month, you should go for the 1GB bundle for N3,000. The bottom line is do you calculation before purchasing a data bundle.
14.  Austine Ezemelue says:October 4, 2012 at 2:45 pmI meant to say “do the arithmetic”
15.  Mister Mo says:October 4, 2012 at 2:52 pmI just consumed 10MB in 4 hours this morning on nothing but Twitter, email, and light web browsing.
16.  eye_bee_kay says:October 4, 2012 at 5:46 pmIf you use it everyday for 30 days,that’s N3,000 for 300MB.Sure. but then the guyv who buys a De Rica tin of rice to cook knows it makes more economic sense to buy a bag of rice.What if adequate fund is simply not available to buy a “worthwhile” bundle?
17.  Alec-Valentine says:October 4, 2012 at 7:36 pmI USE 10mb IN TEN MINUTES……CRAP
18.  Olayinka Oladele (Olaryeankarh) says:October 4, 2012 at 9:18 pmDo you drink it? Lol
19.  shayman says:October 5, 2012 at 4:33 pmsometimes i use 10mb for two days, whatsapp and lighting surfing on operamini
20.  Jenny says:October 5, 2012 at 6:26 pmMy network service allows my to use bis service on either my feature phone, smartphone or andriod phone, so it more data cap for less price.
21.  Olayinka Oladele (Olaryeankarh) says:October 6, 2012 at 6:32 amwhat network is that?
22.  saiddigge says:October 6, 2012 at 5:57 pmAirtel, I think…I used to do 10mb one time too, until I saw the folly of my ways! Even on a feature phone, doing a couple of sites and some messaging here and there, whooosh, its exhausted. Now my advice is bro, try to get a BB, or subscribe to a BlackBerry plan on your phone *if* your network supports it

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