In the same breath, he also said they would be reducing call rates “with or without the consent of other operators in the country”. This is supposedly being made possible by the completion of Globacom’s fibre optic network across the country.

If this happens, I am sure that it would be welcomed with open arms by the public. One can only hope that quality of service will not be compromised.

I am quite skeptical about the claims to crash internet connectivity tariffs, as no mention was made of the medium by which it would be delivered. What is the point of introducing cheap rates when you have to pay a huge sum, say about N25 – 30, 000 (I’m just guessing here) to buy equipment and sign up?

Unless Glo have changed their ways, the GSM operator might also introduce some stringent measures before one can sign up. If they are going to reduce voice rates without the consent of the other networks, does this mean they will be subsidizing interconnectivity rates and will the NCC grant them the go-ahead? More questions than answers!

All in all, we (eagerly?) await the roll out.

The report is available here.

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My problem with MTN’s voice servicce has more to do with billing than the quality of calls. A few weeks ago, I noticed that any airtime that was left on my line was being deducted sometime after 10pm on a daily basis. As I do not load much credit on the line, I overlooked it initially. But things came to a head when on a particular day I had loaded N750 and barely used N150, the N600 left on my line disappeared shortly after 10pm. I only discovered this when I wanted to make a call.

I was annoyed, to say the least. As I could not get through to Customer Care by voice, I got their (Customer Care) email address from their website and fired off an email. A few days later, I receiveed a reply that said there was nothing wrong with my line and that the credit had not been wrongly deducted.

At this same time, I noticed that while browsing pay-as-you-go my line was not being billed immediately.

For example, if I went online and downloaded 100kb at 11am, my airtime would remain the same, giving the false impression that I was browsing free. Much later in the day, I was eventually billed for the internet access. This prevented me from doing a proper reconciliation of data and voice costs.

Funny enough, a day after they sent me the mail, the whole billing issue stopped. But a week later, it started again. Since then, I have learnt to load the amount of airtime that I need/can use before 10pm. Anytime after that, there is the risk of my account balance reading N0.00.

The data issues are the same recurring ones and it is quite annoying
that they continue unabated. I am currently subscribed to the Night
plan (10pm – 5am) with a 3GB cap but I have barely used 1GB with
barely a week left before it expires. When the network is up, it is
superb most of the time but the sporadic nature of the downtimes are
quite annoying. Moreso it appears that it seems to happen when I have some urgent work to do or deadline to meet.

I believe the introduction of a dedicated data customer care number/email would help in bringing these issues to their notice and aid the quick resolution. I would understand downtimes of a couple of hours but when it runs into 8-10 hours as happened a couple of days ago, that’s unacceptable.

Sadly enough, I dont have a back up plan at the moment. Not that there are any appealing options anyway.

1. Etisalat EDGE is way too expensive
2. Zain 3G is non-existent
3. Glo is trouble laden, and
4. My experience with Starcomms is a story for another day

For now, I am not adventurous enough to spring for any other ISP at this point in time.

I am fed up – and that is putting it mildly.

Is anyone out there having the same problems?

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There are 2 ways in which MNP can be implemented – the more popular method is for the customer to contact the new operator (Recipient) who then makes the arrangements on behalf of the subscriber with the old operator (Donor). The other, only practised in the UK for now, only allows the subscriber to contact his old network (the Donor) to obtain a code which he then gives to the Recipient.There are several technical issues involved in MNP but the most significant is the routing of calls and messages to the mobile number once it has been ported. The widely accepted means is through the use of a Central Database (CDB) of ported numbers. Worldwide, porting times have varied from as fast as 3 minutes in Australia to 2 hours in the US and currently 2 working days in the UK. The service has been mostly free in most countries but has also attracted a minimal charge in some. MNP costs about 30 Euros in Germany.

The idea of MNP was first mooted in Nigeria by the NCC in 2007 but since then little has been heard of it. Some of the reasons given for its proposed introduction back then were to break operators’ monopoly of numbers, help reduce complaints of poor quality of service/improve quality of service and reduction of tariffs. As at 2007, Engr Ndukwe was credited with saying that it would only require a dial to migrate from one mobile network to another. Other technical officials were quoted to have said that the service might attract a “little” cost to subscribers.

Recently, in a March 31, 2009 article on NEXT, Engr Ndukwe has set May 2009 as the date for the announcement of a timetable for MNP takeoff. On the mode of implementation, he said that the NCC will be working with an independent company which would be responsible for subscribers wishing to retain their mobile numbers while switching networks. He also revealed that the operators were on board and ready.

However, no mention has been made of the cost implications to the subscriber (if any). Aside this, how long will it take to carry out the change-over process (porting time)? Also, to prevent abuse of the system how often can one change operators over what time period? Is MNP going to be limited to GSM or are the CDMA networks involved too?

The benefits of MNP are immense for any telecoms market. It will truly create an atmosphere for competition. Operators can be free to roll out better packages for subscribers without restrictions (within limits, that is). New entrants are also better positioned to compete favourably as they can be judged by the quality of their service and products. In the long run, the customer, as king, benefits the most – increased choices, ability to retain your mobile number, improved service, lower tariffs. On the other hand, the system could be abused by subscribers who flit from operator to operator at the slightest whim. Also, there could be underhand practices from operators who want to hold on to their customers at all costs. This calls for proper regulation by NCC and the establishment of proper and adequate protocols for the process and regular reviews to ensure compliance.

All in all, I am eagerly awaiting the advent of MNP here in Nigeria. Maybe, just maybe, it will be the harbinger of better things in the telecoms industry.

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The Startpage is quite eye-catching. It is much better looking than the Opera Mini with its 3 tabs (History, Favourites & Feeds) allowing quick access. The arrow pointer feature, which is missing in Opera mini, is quite useful when clicking away. I however found out that you cannot edit the Favourites but can only add to them.

The Full PC style browsing is unique and one can appreciate web pages in all their glory when browsing on a mobile phone. I found the text quite small when reading but there is an option in Settings where you can adjust the font size to suit your viewing. One thing I found disappointing was the absence o the ability to prevent the browser from loading images. Images are loaded as a default. I guess this may be due to the Full PC style browsing.

As regards speed, I cannot quantitatively assess the speed but I must say its comparable to Opera Mini, though I think the Mini is faster. I won’t contest the data compression technology that Bolt claims to use to deliver web pages but another missing feature is the ability to determine how many kb each page you loaded was. On Opera Mini, one was able to see that detail at the bottom of the screen and there is also a Page Information feature under Tools in Opera Mini.

Lastly, there is a bar at the top of the screen in the Bolt Browser that displays progress by percentage when loading web pages. However, I noticed occasionally that it got stuck at 20% before then rapidly completing. I don’t know if it’s due to the network connection or related to the browser itself.

All in all, for a browser in Beta phase it has shown it can provide competition. I give it a thumbs-up!

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Once upon a time, we willingly paid N50 per minute to keep in touch with loved ones and carry out business transactions. With the advent of Per Second Billing and further drops in call tariffs (due to competition or regulation?), voice calls now vary between N20 – N40 depending on your talk plan with your carrier and who you are calling (call rates are higher when you call outside your network).

To find a way around the exhorbitant rates of making calls to other networks, many of us now carry SIM cards of virtually all the networks and make calls to the appropriate network. Others simply visit a commercial call centre and pay N20 per minute, while others yet go for the CDMAs which are relatively cheaper.

I can safely argue that many Nigerians do not know the call tariffs they are on. They basically are aware of the name of the plan e.g. XtraCool or Classic Plus and know that making intra-network calls are cheaper. But very few of us do check how much we are actually charged per call.

I decided to run some random tests and discovered that with all the networks there were discrepancies in the billing. In many instances, I was overbilled – for example, I was charged 56 kobo per second on my MTN Xtra cool instead of 53 kobo. Surprisingly, I also noticed that I have also been undercharged – On Etisalat, I was charged N29.50 instead of N30 for a 60 second call at 50 kobo per second.

So my question is, what could be the cause of the erratic pricing?
Human or Computer glitches? NCC where are you?

I enjoin you to pull out your pencils and calculators and carry out your own random tests. You will discover how much you are actually paying for that call and in the end maybe brush up your maths skills!

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But for the past 48 hours, the reverse has been the case as I have not been able to log on to the network. The data services have been sporadic at best.

I did not notice this immediately as I had a large volume of work to do, and each time I needed to go online, I resorted to using my laptop instead of my mobile device. After dispensing with the work load, I wanted to resume my usual service on MTN but to my dismay I couldnt.

Fortunately, I have Starcomms as a back-up otherwise I would have had to go and visit a cafe which I haven’t done in a long while.

MTN what is happening? Is this due to another on-going maintainance or some software upgrade? Please let’s have some answers to these questions.

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Will it be fair to assess them so soon? It may not be a fair comparison since they dont have the customer base of the others (thousands versus millions) but I will give it a shot.

Before the entrance of Etisalat, I scored Glo the highest of all three (which is not that high anyway). I don’t have specific scores but was based on my assessment of response time, quality of response and courtesy.

Getting through to Customer care of all the three prior networks is a nightmare to say the least. I usually pray not to have any reason to need to contact them, but sometimes the inevitable occurs such as the over-scratching of poorly made recharge cards.

I have only gotten through to Glo’s 121 once during the day and that was after close to 50 dials. All the other times I have gotten through were in the middle of the night! After I finally got through each time, I was placed on hold for an average of 15 minutes. Quality of response has been fair but I remember when once I called to inquire about an ad in the papers & customer care said they knew nothing about it. But courtesy was pretty good.

I started off with Glo because simply put, I have never gotten through to MTN on 180 & Zain on 111. After dialling 180 and pressing the number to put me through to CC, the connection fails. Same goes for 111 on Zain.

Back to Etisalat, dialling 200 was a breeze. Got through on my first dial and was put through to the Customer Care representative in an average of 3 minutes 30 seconds on the 3 occasions I called.

Responses were good but mainly from the textbook and were details I already knew from their website. I made an enquiry about some products on their website and the representative was kind enough to tell me she didnt know and made an effort to get the information from a supervisor. She was profuse in her apologies when the information was not available and politely asked me to call back at a later time.

On the whole, it might be a bit too early but I rate Etisalat high on their Customer Care services with Glo second and MTN & Zain vying for the abysmal bottom spot.

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