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mamba
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 138
From: 9ja
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@amby, many Nigerians opt for gsm rather than cdma because of the coverage and simplicity of purchasing the line and handset separately. in the past, you needed to go to multilinks office with ur passport, utility bill and queue up to buy a line that takes days to get activated. these made cdma lack the competitive edge in terms of customer base & acceptance despite the cheaper call prices. the way things are going with cdma gradually adopting gsm features at a cheaper price, i guess the trend you'll expect to see is an average nigerian owning both cdma and gsm lines. |
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OluYom
Joined: Oct 27, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Nigeria
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Amby: True, the ratio is terrible. The issue, however, is really that of ignorance of the majority due to the past antecedents of the PTOs, as mamba has graciously explained. The majority do not know that things have changed. There is always an expression of surprise when I share the details with people.
But once they know, their responses show clearly that they are NOT tariff insensitive. Why - they usually go get one for themselves. Enlightenment is the key. But it will take time unless Starcomms and co are willing to spend mega bucks on pushing that info out.
Fact: There is a growing awareness, and silent adoption of CDMA mobiles going on among the enlightened.
Fact: Nigerians are NOT tariff insensitive.
PS: I used to be known as AYA |
OluYom
Joined: Oct 27, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Nigeria
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Quote:
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On 2007-03-28 23:48:15, 234hay wrote:
@ all:Amongst the CDMA operators which has the widest coverage and which do you think has the best internet package;cost,speed and all...
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Widest coverage: Between Multilinks and Starcomms (has largest CDMA subscribers far ahead of Multilinks)
Lowest Internet rates: Starcomms (N10,000 for 24-7 access); smaller packages available
Most flexible internet plans: Between Reltel & Multilinks
PS: I used to be known as AYA |
ambyzown
Joined: May 11, 2005
Posts: 231
From: Lagos-Nigeria
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One other reason why cdma has been taking the rear seat is that very few manufacturers are developing new handsets for the technology. I can't go out to buy a phone I like and get it activated. Even the new SIM enabled starcomms 0702 lines require that u buy the phones from Starcomms, and there isn't much to choose from either.
Let go and let God |
coolapostle
Joined: Oct 15, 2004
Posts: 28
From: Abuja, Nigeria
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IMHO, the cdma guys will need big money if they are ever to compete. Even if a few hundreds of thousands of ppl join them, they lack the infrastructure to handle the load. I was turned back by the Cellcom Staff some years back because they had not covered my area and the only "available" internet belt was the mid-night one.
I am looking forward to Glo Fixed and the rumoured Telkom/Multi-links merger for something solid in the internet arena. Glo is actually promising triple play: TV/net/calls
On Celtel midnight calls... I think it is only a matter of time. Afterall, Celtel had said they won't reduce tariff and hurt their profits... but reality has caused them to have a re-think. Celtel MUST provide the same goodies if they are to remain competitive. If you were a new subscriber, free midnight calls is a MAJOR incentive. And you know the ages of the ppl buying phones these days.
Maybe Celtel was in a rush: their SMS was not dropped to the current N5-7 standard. Why? |
ambyzown
Joined: May 11, 2005
Posts: 231
From: Lagos-Nigeria
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@Coola: Celtel never indicated that it didn't plan to reduce tariffs, rather they said they were concentrating on capacity building first before embarking on tariff reduction. Believe me, Celtel didn't lose profit, rather their staff were paid profit sharing only last week, as against what used to obtain under Vmobile.
Of what use is free midnight calls if you can't get a connection? Glo tried it for a while, and realised that free was bad, now its 10k/sec. I for one have only used the MTN free calls once, and we both slept off while the connection was still active. Imagine, we were asleep, but tied up the network for FREE! I guess one person's battery must have run out before the connection was broken. I wouldn't try that if I had to pay for it.
As for SMS, Celtel offers the best deal in terms of SMS. MTN charges N5 for SMS within network, and N15 for SMS to other networks, while Glo is N7.5 and N15 respectively. On the other hand, Celtel charges a flat rate of N9 for SMS irrespective of which Network it is sent to.
Do the math yourself.
Let go and let God |
OluYom
Joined: Oct 27, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Nigeria
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Quote:
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On 2007-04-01 20:40:47, coolapostle wrote:
Celtel MUST provide the same goodies if they are to remain competitive. If you were a new subscriber, free midnight calls is a MAJOR incentive. And you know the ages of the ppl buying phones these days.
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They do not have to. If I were a new subscriber, free midnight calls is NO incentive. I have NEVER used it and have no plans to. It makes no difference to me and to most people I know. We all are in bed (some of us with madam). What God has joined together, let no free midnight calls put asunder 
As for the ages of people buying phones, people across a wide age range are buying and upgrading their phones.
I know that there are those who find the free nighties useful, but hey - those are the same people who spend the least maintaining their lines. Plus, the freebies also jam the networks more often than not. Its a loss in many ways for both the networks and subscribers.
The real deal would be significant lower tariffs all round; not free midnight calls.
PS: I used to be known as AYA |
mamba
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 138
From: 9ja
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On 2007-04-01 21:33:03, ambyzown wrote:
As for SMS, Celtel offers the best deal in terms of SMS. MTN charges N5 for SMS within network, and N15 for SMS to other networks, while Glo is N7.5 and N15 respectively. On the other hand, Celtel charges a flat rate of N9 for SMS irrespective of which Network it is sent to.
Do the math yourself.
I've done the math and I'm certain that I'm saving more money sending SMS via MTN rather than Celtel. 80% of my contacts are on MTN while 15% are glo, and 5% Celtel. on average, I'll spend =N=7 per SMS via MTN as opposed to =N=9 via Celtel. |
ambyzown
Joined: May 11, 2005
Posts: 231
From: Lagos-Nigeria
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On 2007-04-01 23:42:49, mamba wrote:
I've done the math and I'm certain that I'm saving more money sending SMS via MTN rather than Celtel. 80% of my contacts are on MTN while 15% are glo, and 5% Celtel. on average, I'll spend =N=7 per SMS via MTN as opposed to =N=9 via Celtel.
If that suits you, fine. I have at least 50% of my contacts using Celtel so it only makes sense for me to use my Celtel line. Remember I was quick to blast them when their tariffs were the highest? I should also commend them if I think their tariffs are now attractive. Plus because of the uniform tariff across network, I no longer carry three phones around. I only carry my Celtel and Intercellular. I've set the MTN to divert my calls to the Celtel line. I chose the Celtel line as my Default for the following reasons.
1. Overall cheaper tariff (Off peak calls from Celtel to MTN is 33k/sec as against 43k/sec MTN to MTN)
2. More people know me by that number
3. GPRS is cheaper on Celtel
Last time I checked, the average of 5 and 15 was still 10. How come you arrived at N7?
Let go and let God |
ambyzown
Joined: May 11, 2005
Posts: 231
From: Lagos-Nigeria
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Oops, I forgot to mention 15 free sms monthly (not restricted to home network only) and 21k/sec for calls to Family and friends. Upto 5 members csn be registered as opposed to 3 on MTN
Let go and let God |
OluYom
Joined: Oct 27, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: Nigeria
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Here is where the fun begins (hopefully), when at least one network decides to brand itself by going a different path from the crowd:
- no GPRS for prepaid customers (at least officially); you have to get a contrct for that. Eventually, this may become the norm though, in view of EFCC's regulations
- uniform tariffs
- no free midnight calls
I applaud Celtel for this. Let there be diversity and service differentiation. What do we stand to gain when all 4 GSM networks simply ape one another?
PS: I used to be known as AYA |
mamba
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 138
From: 9ja
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On 2007-04-02 02:45:51, ambyzown wrote:
Last time I checked, the average of 5 and 15 was still 10. How come you arrived at N7?
My contact ratio is 80% MTN @ =N=5 and 20% others @ =N=15. If you apply the ratio, it averages at =N=7 per SMS.
The unity tariff is a good idea, definitely good for competition as AYA said. It will definitely suit people that make more calls during off-peak. If ur looking for cheaper rates like me, it makes more sense to go the CDMA route. @Amby, have u considered how much you can save by using ur intercellular for voice calls? |
ambyzown
Joined: May 11, 2005
Posts: 231
From: Lagos-Nigeria
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Yes Mamba, I still use my intercellular line for voice calls, especially calls to land lines, thats why I still lug it around with me, but Intercellular still bills by the minute, and its N23 per minute to GSM. Off peak, Celtel is N19.80 to all networks.
Let go and let God |
ambyzown
Joined: May 11, 2005
Posts: 231
From: Lagos-Nigeria
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@Aya: you seem to have taken ur crusade in favour of Nokia smartphones to the ends of the earth. I read ur comments on the Nokia vs  debate, as well as ur reaction to negative comments about the N95. You have to understand that u cant reason with fanatics.
[ This Message was edited by: ambyzown on 2007-04-03 08:25 ] |
coolapostle
Joined: Oct 15, 2004
Posts: 28
From: Abuja, Nigeria
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Celtel trying to be different? Puleeese!
Like Glo and MTN they have midnight calls.
Like MTN theirs run from 12:30am to 4:30am.
Like Glo, they charge 10k/sec.
Like MTN u must have N100 credit for the midnight calls.
Like Glo EasyTalk, Celtel's Simply Smooth allows midnight calls with 0.0 credit
Like MTN and Glo, Celtel has reduced SMS prices
Like Glo used to do, they now give free monthly SMS
Like Glo and MTN, Celtel finally created special Family and Friends tariffs
UNLIKE Glo and MTN, Celtel is charging its loyal faithfuls like Amby N100 to migrate. I AM BITTERLY AGAINST MIGRATION FEES.
No Guys, Celtel is a shameless copycat.
(But their Advert Guys said, "Hey! We got to push the "flat tariffs" as a unique-selling point. Yeah, yeah")
They ACTUALLY had a niche in their Econet/Vmobile days. They were Customer-centric. Their customers got things for less or free. Now? Ha!
BTW: The Celtel plan is here
On the popularity of mid-night calls, I advise u guys have a chat with students in our Universities and Polys. That is the population getting their first phones these days.
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Posted: 2007-03-31 03:30
