Nigerian telcos are in a keen race to eke out more revenues in the data space from their 70 million subscribers.
They are offering increasingly attractive and cheaper mobile internet tariff plans.
The networks have scaled their packages into time frame and price regimes, so as to appeal to every segment of the
market. Globacom has a weekend package which is effective between the hours of 9 pm on Friday and 9 am Monday and costs N6,000.00. The Day pack allows the consumer to use the internet between the hours of 9am and 9pm and costs N9, 000, while the Night pack is effective between 9pm and 9am and costs N17, 500. To get connected to each of these plans, the consumer is required to pay a monthly rental of N12, 000 initially. Subsequently, monthly rentals depending on the package. For all the packages, after the first month subscription, the charges become N10, 000 N4,000, N6,000, and N4,500 respectively.
MTN has three pre-paid internet packages. These are the 24/7 monthly plan. There is also the Nite Plan that allows the subscriber internet access from 10 pm to 6.00am daily for one month. There is also the Daily Plan. This plan costs N10, 000, N2, 500 and N500 respectively. A consumer can purchase the modems and a SIM card from any MTN outlet. There is also the MTN f@astlink GPRS/EDGE USB mini modem (MF262) and PCMCIA (this is a data card with which the connection is made easy) costs N12, 000. Users are also to note that, activation code must be sent at the end of every subscription period and a reply received before the user can have internet access. While using the internet, a consumer can check his bundle usage (i.e to enquire about what you have used and what is left in your account) by simply typing 2 in an SMS and send to 131 and you will receive a reply of your transactions. Glo, for instance offers four packages, which includes; 24 hours daily in 7 days. The charge for this is N15, 000. Etisalat's service called easynet is also in three plans. These are the flexible plan 100MB for N1, 000, 500MB N3, 000 3GB N10, 000; the dedicated data SIM doesn't need any SIM swap. To get connected a customer is required to get the USB modem which costs N14, 000 or N14, 500 only. Multilinks Telkom, a CDMA operator has two different service charges which are designed for 'everyday people. This works well for students and other individuals. For using the internet for 50 hrs, the customer pays N3, 400 in addition to traffic included which is N800 and validity period is 30 days. 100hrs bundle is N5, 600 naira, added traffic is 1, 400 and valid for 30 days. For 250 hrs, it is N12, 500 plus traffic and valid for 60 days. For 500 hrs, it is N12, 500 plus traffic charge of 2, 200 which is valid for 90 days. For 1, 000hrs, the charge is, N22, 500 plus traffic of N6, 000 valid for 90 days. The package designed professionals is mearnt for professionals, who are into down loading heavy files, architects, Graphic Artist and other professionals. The speed on this service makes one to achieve more in quick time. For (1) MyMEG 75 (2) MyMEG 150 (3) MyMEG 250, (4) MyMEG 500 (5) MyGig1 and (6) MyGig 3 respectively. The bundle fees are, N750, 75 traffic included and valid for 30 days, for (2) it is, N1,400 with 150 traffic included for (3) it is 2, 300 250 added traffic. For (4), it is 4, 400 with 5000 added traffic. For (5) the charge is 6, 900 plus 1, 000 added traffic and for (6), it is 15, 000 plus 3, 000 traffic included. All these categories are valid for 30 days. Visafone has three packages which include Visa1x, VisaSILVER and VisaGOLD.
The first package is based on the CDMA 1x technology and allows subscribers to browse the internet anytime with speed of 153Kbps on shared basis. This is less faster. For VisaSILVER, the package is based on the 3G EVDO technology. This provides data at speed of 150kbps.
This is faster that the Visa1x. The VisaGOLD package is based on the 3G EVDO technology with the speed of 300kbps. This is the fastest. In each of these categories, there are four plans which include All Time, Day, Nite and Weekend Surf. For Visa1x, 24 hours daily for the period of 7 days costs 9, 500 while Day Surfer is from 8am-9pm and costs 6, 000.
Zoom offers ZOOMmobile Breeze package which is based on CDMA 1x- single user radio transmission technology with an average download speed of 60kbps. This is smart phone compatible. They also reward their customers with "Zoom pay as-you-browse". Every 10hrs used costs 10, 000 naira and it is valid for 5days. For every 40 hours, the charge is 3, 000 naira and it is for valid for 18 days. For using 100hrs, a customer is charged 5, 000 naira. This is valid for 30 days and 300 hrs for 60 days cost 10, 000.
This internet connectivity either in laptop or desktop or phone enabled users to access information faster and keep tab on both national and international information which enhances individual and organisational efficiency and productivity.





