MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Glo Nigeria and Etislalat Nigeria are currently in the midst of a battle for the growing Nigerian telecom market. Now, the fight is centering on GSM services and each company is looking to garner the lion’s share of customers, according to analyst Badr Mohamed, in Lagos.
He said that this price war is going to be beneficial to customers who have long struggled with the costs of the telecommunications market.
“What we are seeing right now is going to be great for people because it will mean lower prices for sending messages,” he said.
Towards the last quarter of 2010, Etisalat Nigeria fired the first salvo in the war with its 25k per second and 15 Naira (N) per minute on all calls and the other operators followed suit.
Recently, Etisalat unveiled a repackaged and reloaded Easy Cliq into the telecom market, a package specifically designed to cater for the needs and lifestyle of the youth segment of the market.
The new Easy Cliq is loaded with new features: The Cliq for the week and Cliq for the day offer subscribers unbeatable experiences and benefits daily. While Cliq for the week offers 15 MB of free data for subscribers when they recharge N200 or more weekly, Cliq for the day offers discounted call rates of 25k per second to other Easy Cliq subscribers at a daily access fee of N5.
Airtel, of recent known as Zain, further rocked the market with a package that enables its customers to pay 20k per minute after an initial 60k in the first minute for the whole day.
The rate, under its 2Good Campaign, which is not limited to its network but extends to every network, also includes calls to the US.
By Jonathan Terry
i think they should reduce the price of internet data bundle(100mb) to N500 so that everybody can benefit and they will not be hacked again,, pls make it easy.
With regard to the Price Wars among Nigerian GSM companies, I have a bone to grind with MTN. I have laid it straight with the company but it appears the company is not that intersested in Customers Services but their bottom line. I live in US but visit Nigeria yearly on vacation for about 4 to 6 weeks each year. About three or four years ago, I bought an MTN SIM card number 08036936990. I still have my packaging to prove it. After my vacation, I came back to US with the hope that my MTN SIM card will be there for the following year’s use. The following year when I got home, I was ready to load my card only to discover that my number had been assigned to another customer. I bought another SIM card since I love to carry MTN with my GLO line. When I got back to US, I complained to the company and I was told by the staff I spoke with that it would not happen again. Ok I took her for her word. When I got home the following year, I suffered the same faith. I have bought three different SIM card. The company failed to let me keep my number for use for my duration of my leave in a year. I am still using the same GLO SIM card I bought years ago despite the fact that I only use it for maximum of 6 weeks in a year. Now I have changed my mind against MTN. So others beware of what you might run into with MTN.
mtn had deal with her customers long ago not today they are doing such thing i can change from my one and only airtel
I suggest u call the attention of the manager b/4 forwarding ur complain to any level u want to take it to.
4 me mtn is o.K 4 me 4 there new package. I enjoyed their plans,includin call rate
I dont believe any thing good can ever come out MTN. What ever promo they is always reactionary. They are never pro-active with any thing that will be beneficial to their customers. They give us some crumbs when they sense they are loosening customers to competitors. In 2002 MTN sim card was always intentionally hoarded that it sold between 20 to 35 thousand naira until Glo came and crashed the price to 6500 naira. MTN told us then that swtching to per second billing would crash their system but when Glo came with per sec billing,MTN’s system miraculous withstood per sec billing. Check any promo MTN dishes out it is meant to enslave us to their network.The other time they came up with gambling- u have to answer questions while they deduct ur money for u to win 10mil.The pertern is simple: get about one million fools to be texting @ the cost of 100naira per text,make 100million and give about 10 million to the fool that texted the most an d pocket the rest.Why can’t MTN give lower call rates to other networks as others are doing.That is why I now resolve to be loading both my Glo and Etisalt lines for making calls and be using my MTN line for recieving only. MTN is only in Nigeria to rip us off. OLE!
Really Nigerians enjoy this compatition despite we took a long time in a very expensive tariff flans. I hope this fight could not result in vacation of some companies wich will also result in unemployment
I love all the network in Nigeria but am having problem with my new airtel sim card, i can call out and i dont no what to do.
mtn should be wise in these things that are going on among them and their customers.secondly,the rate mtn is charging per minute is out of hand .mtn should understand that there are other network.if these should continue customers will definately over to othernet.therefore, mtn should treat their subscribers well
I am with you Dapo. The last couple of years I have had tio buy another MTN sim card each time, because the one I used has already expired. It’s my understanding that MTN cancels the sim if there is no activity (usage, or topup – a change in balance) for 90 days. So, this last visit in March, I bought a few 100 naira topups so that I can remember to topup (or use it) every 90 days. The inactivity period should be at least 6 months IMO. What a ripoff!