Telcos shift battle for market share to $1bn SMS, e-mail platforms

Ben Uzor Jr

               

A new war front is emerging in Nigeria’s telecommunications market - mobile data. Mobile network operators (MNOs) are shifting attention to deepening their share of revenue from data service provisioning, with mobile data valued at about $1 billion expected to contribute a significant portion of revenues by 2015. Mobile data includes paging, text messaging, e-mail, Web access and other specialised data applications and specifically excludes voice transmission. In the last three years, Nigeria’s telecoms industry has witnessed fierce competition in the voice segment of the market, which ushered in lower mobile call tariffs and rates.

Most networks are now engaging in heated price wars in the mobile data ecosystem, offering cheaper and innovative packages with a view to taking advantage of the growing number of internet hungry smartphones and tablets users. Operators are conscious of the fact that the number of Nigerian users accessing the internet via mobile phones has surpassed the number accessing through Personal Computers (PCs), marking a significant milestone created by the boom of smartphones.

Nigeria still has the highest online population in Africa with 45 million users. But reports from Opera mini’s Q4 2011 mobile browser stats for Nigeria reveal that 54 percent of the above figure accesses the internet via mobile phones, amounting to about 24 million. To this end, mobile networks are looking to increase mobile data revenues with innovative pricing. Under its mobile browsing plan, MTN Nigeria is offering to customers 1GB of mobile data for N3, 500 per month. On the other hand, Airtel Nigeria’s 1GB of mobile data costs N3,000, five hundred naira less than MTN’s plan. Globacom is offering 1GB of mobile data for N3, 000 under its ‘Always Macro’ plan (Just dial *127*54#). Lastly, Etisalat Nigeria is offering 1.5GB of mobile data for N4, 000.

Besides, global phone makers such as Research in Motion (RIM), Samsung, Nokia, LG, Huawei are not left out. They are jostling to expand the scope of the market by entering strategic partnerships with telecom operators, app developers, Value Added Service (VAS) companies to bundle exclusive solutions targeted at the Nigerian market. They are also strengthening their presence in the country through investments in distribution networks. Recently, Apple announced its official entry into Nigeria’s competitive mobile phone market. Femi Akinwunmi, creative director, BrandEdge, told Benuzorreports in a phone interview that the competition in the mobile data space is becoming fierce.

“Mobile networks are pushing cheaper mobile data packages into the market. This is largely because of the smartphone boom and the growing number of tablets. It’s all about mobility. Many Nigerians now watch television and movies on their mobile phones. The mobile device is accessible and convenient and more Nigerians will prefer to access the internet through their mobile phones than computers. More people do their emails, visit social network sites such as Facebook via their mobile phones. I think this is one reason why operators are focusing on mobile data.” Jude Omozegie, head, product marketing at Samsung Electronics West Africa, told Benuzorreports that “Nigeria is a fast growing market and there are huge opportunities for phone makers to come in and sell their products. Telecoms operators are spreading their networks across the country.

Mobile and internet penetration is growing. Phone makers see the opportunity and are bringing in devices, smartphones at varied price-points, obviously to meet the growing demand in the country. “Interestingly, a huge number of Nigerians will access the internet for the first time through their mobile phones, rather than through a PC”, he added.