Unlocking Data Savings: Why I Switched to a Yearly 1TB Subscription

One of the main challenges we face as Nigerians is the high cost of data. Not many Nigerians can afford the cost of data in relation to the amount of money they earn per month. The minimum wage in Nigeria is so low—less than $20 per month—yet the cost of feeding is expensive.

I have suffered for a long time with issues relating to data subscriptions and looking for the best data plan that fits my data needs. I always subscribe to a promo data plan offered by MTN, which is not always stable. MTN can choose not to offer me a plan at any point in time, and bring it back, and when this happens, it puts me in a state of confusion, on how what data plan I can subscribe to that would be cost effective.

I have about 3 devices at the moment, which are my two phones (an Android and an iPhone) and my laptop. Subscribing to three different data plans on these devices can be costly, so I decided to get a router, which would solve my problem with slow internet and also serve as a medium of connection for both my iPhone, Android, and PC.

Upgrading to a 5G router comes with its own pros and cons. I enjoyed the pros because I was free from a slow network, but my need for data increased. I began subscribing for 15,000 naira monthly for 150 GB, and then later, the plan was removed, and I had to subscribe to a FUP (Fair Usage Policy) data plan of 80 GB for 15,000 naira, which then gives me 5 GB daily after completely consuming the data.

Here come the cons: the router is not mobile, which means I can only use it at home. So if I want to have access to data, I would need to have a subscription on my phone, and because of this, I started subscribing to 5,000 naira per month on one of my phones, which I then shared with the other phone. Approximately, I subscribe to 20,000 naira monthly and even more because my mobile subscription gets exhausted, and this gives me an approximate 100–150 GB per month at least.

Taking the Big Step...

Three days ago, my data got exhausted, both for my router and my phone. I was in a way tired of this monthly subscription and took a big step to ease myself, and I decided to go for a yearly data plan of 1 TB for 100,000 naira. This way, I get more data for a smaller amount of money (aggregate amount) and for a longer period of time.

Why I said for a smaller amount of money is because a 20,000-naira monthly data subscription plan would give me a maximum of 750GB in 5 months, which would cost a total of 100,000 naira. In fact, I get an extra 150 GB, saving me an extra 20,000 naira.

How long the Data would last?

I don't think 1 TB of data would be enough for me in a year, but I know if I use it the way I normally use my data, it would be sufficient for me for 6 months, and by that time, I would have my 100,000 naira for my next 1 TB, or maybe I would see if there is a possibility of subscribing to 2 TB of data to be assured I would not need to subscribe again for a year straight.