Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Nigeria Calling......

Last time, I shared my discovery of cheap international call providers. I would have even forgotten about this post if not for yesterday where I was helping my mum scratch open a phone card and I was thinking hmmm if this was an MTN card I would have scratched out the number by now (lol - For those that get the joke sha...) With regards to mobiles in Nigeria, it's a bit of a different ball game where you always need to LOAD YOUR SET with a RECHARGE CARD or you won't be able to make calls (lol!) Okay enough with the Wednesday humour already, it just ain't working Mona.

Anyways, this post is about communication in Nigeria basically. The pic at the top is very outdated in case some people are wondering whether we still use all of those cards. Now, there are so many telecom operators, not only GSM but wireless and landlines as well. We have also seen the transition of one of the largest mobile Telecom operators change names from Vodacom Nigeria to Econet to V Mobile and now to Celtel (as a result of an acquisition) - let's hope they keep their name this time huh? Anyway business is business, that's what's important.



About 6 years ago, the GSM craze was on and Nigeria was still developing and setting up the infrastructure to welcome GSM mobile telecommunication and everything that came with it. A lot of money was invested and a lot of money lost. All in all, telecoms is a very lucrative business in Nigeria.

Major GSM operators/provider sites:



Other telecoms operators:


Now, there's stuff like WAP, picture messaging, Wireless internet etc. in fact almost everything you can think of. So for those who don't visit Nigeria much, let's just say you are probably experiencing the same or similar quality of service with your mobile abroad as any one in Nigeria.

Nigerian Internet & Wireless Provider sites:


There are also services where you can top-up via texts or online or at the retail banks.
Some sites include:



As well as all the services, there are tons of career opportunities available from working in the call centres, to corporate offices, modelling for adverts (e.g. the MTN Girl), etc. Visit Siemens Nigeria.

Finally, let's talk about Wi-fi, this has been going on for a while in Gidi for those who have been aware and taken advantage but for those who haven't, there are a number of Wi-fi hotspots in and around Nigeria. For instance places like Silverbird Shopping Mall, Eko Hotel and The Bungalow, provide access (I thought it was so long as you eat there but apparently not!). Others I know of are Bambuddha and Coconut grove on Awolowo Road. There may not be as many as one would want i.e. the hotspots but they are growing.




To find Wi-fi hotspots in Nigeria, you can visit these sites:


This means that when you go home during holidays you have no excuse not to visit my blog because I have told you where you can log on. Or you might as well go and BROWSE in the CYBERCAFE (I can't possibly list all the cybercafes in Nigeria, even my house is one lol). Speaking of which, I will be talking about the Yahoo Millionaires and the Advanced Fee fraud soon.

Other Comms sources/sites:


Some GSM News:
Posted by wallart at 3:04 AM

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