Telecom Firms and the Promise of Internet Service
Tayo Ajakaye takes a look at the performance of private telecom firms against their much touted Internet capabilities
In almost all the adverts, they claim their lines could do almost anything: Voice, Data, Internet. You buy the line, and you get just a cracking voice. But that is voice nonetheless. Remember none qualified the kind of voice you are likely to get. Voice is voice. Even a cracking one!
The data part of it, you would be told after the money had rested in their vaults, that data means you could only send text to another line within that network. No, you cannot send text messages to a subscriber on another network. So for the subscriber who bought the line of the PTO thinking that he was going to use it to send a fax to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, he needed some more thinking to do.
In the case of Internet service, there is outright deception going on with many of the operators proclaiming they offer that service where, infact, just few of them do. Ability of a PTO to do Internet service seems to be the new marketing advantage. But not all those who promise it offers it, at least not efficiently.
Take the case of Starcomms for instance, the operator whose adverts could not be ignored, had been talking of Internet service since last year. People took them seriously. Those who went ahead to buy his lines were disappointed when they found out that he could not provide Internet service. Infact, the best data this operator could provide was SMS from Starcomms to Starcomms. But give it to Starcomms. He has one of the best marketing strategies in this business. He is also becoming a big operator, using PTOs criteria.
A few weeks ago, Starcomms announced the commencement of its Internet service. It now offers round the clock Internet service for N18,000. its Business Time is slated into three categories: 6.00hrs - 18 hours costs N15,000; 18.00hrs - 23hrs costs N11,5000; and 23.00hrs - 6.00hrs cost N5,000. There is one condition. The minimum a subscriber could ask for is three months. Nothing less.
Or you want to talk of Reliance Telecoms. It is to the credit of this operator that Reltel brought connection fees to a new low level some two years ago. The quality of calls on the network has not been exactly reliable though. According to the operator, RelTel initially introduced Internet service in September 2002 and it was then the first PTO to launch Internet service through scratch card on IS 95. Should anybody give any testimony of that service, it would be damning. The truth is that logging onto to the Internet would take forever. Infact, it was sheer waste of time trying to send mails through the RelTel Internet. Then came this year when the same was introduced on CDMA 20001x.
RelTel has three offerings. The first is N15000 for unlimited access/downloads for 24 hours; the second is N10000 for unlimited access/downloads for 12 hours during daytime starting at 8am; and N5000 for unlimited access / downloads for 12 hours during night time starting at 8pm. And the speed? RelTel says speed goes up to 153 Kbps.
There are other operators whose Internet service are not very publicized. Like Cellcom. There are others in Lagos area who subscribers have come to identify as reliable. These include Multi-Links which this year won the Best ISP PTO at the Nigeria Internet Service Providers Awards, 2004. They also include 21st Century Technologies, Mobiltel and VGC Comm. Multi-Links charges Round the clock, 24 Hours N15,000 per month; Peak,8am to 6pm N10,000; Sundown, 6pm to 11pm N5,000; Night Watch, 11 pm to 6am N4,000; and Early Bird, 6am to 9 am N3,000.
Mobitel, VGC Communications Limited and 21st Century Technologies are wired line operators whose Internet services are rated high in Lagos area. 21st Century said it offers 64k to 655mpbs access to the Internet using a multi service access platform comprising metropolitan fibre access; extensive copper network and 3.5GHZ frequency based wireless equipment.
Intercellular just started Internet service in Lagos area. Although it has launched service in Kano, Kaduna and Maiduguri, Internet service is not on the bill in these northern states.
There is however an operator whose Internet service subscribers have described as world class in the northern part of the country: Startech Connections. Startech is the only FWA operator of note to have launched service in the northern part of the country, and who delivers service using the real thing, broadband.
The excellent voice quality of Startech Connections apart, its broadband wireless Internet on 3.5GHZ has been the talk of the town. Its list of clients include the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the National Assembly and a sizeable number of multinational organizations.
Unlike the other operators in the northern axis who offloaded their old equipment from Lagos to start service in the area, Startech Connections offers all service at once: Voice, Data and Internet with admirable speed in Abuja, Kano and Kaduna. It has received several commendation by the NCC and other industry experts as one of the best FWA operators in the country.
Not everybody is happy with the progress of the telecom operators with their Internet service. The ISPs are not. Provision of effective Internet service by the PTOs would make the ISPs a little less desirable. There is concern the PTOs may run them out of business. If telecom operators provide excellent Internet service, it would reduce the clients of the ISPs. As at the last count, Nigeria has 375 ISPs.
PTOs have the advantage of different offerings; they give a wider choice which the ISPs by virtue of their licences could not attempt. Some of the telecom operators are already giving out Internet service subscription for free making the existence of some ISPs needless.
The General Manager of SIOtel, a national ISP, Mr. Chris Nwandu said in Lagos Tuesday that some of these PTOs do not have the facilities they claim to have. Of more concern to Nwandu however is the emerging absence of specialization since the PTOs are allowed to offer just about any service they want.
But he suggested a way out; a kind of collaboration between the ISPs and the PTOs. The ISPs could provide support for the data traffic of the PTOs.
Whether the emergence of new technologies, which could allow an operator to offer all services he so desires, would allow such a proposal work is quite another thing. That apart, it is not often that one comes across an operator who wants to pay for a service he thinks he could provide.
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