Nigerian Network Providers: A League of Disappointments

When it comes to discussion regarding the various network providers down here in Nigeria, it's more or less like a league of frustration and disappointment, because when you think one is acting up and you jump onto the other, you'll be met with another type of issue that makes you wonder why most of them are still in business when they can't give what they claim to customers without any huddles. It's quite frustrating when you want to make a call and you can't even get the call through to the other person, or you want to browse through the internet and it's taking minutes to open a single webpage, and that's why here I'll be talking extensively about network providers and the ones I use.

I remember all of this drama with network providers has been in existence since I was much younger, because I do hear adult complaints about their service, although to be fair, one of them stands out for being much better than the others, and that was MTN, and these lead to a lot of customers joining their train to get the best network for every single thing they want to do, from calling to surfing the internet. Back then they did live up to their slogan, "Everywhere you go," but is that the case in today's world? I doubt it, because they've become a shadow of themselves. In fact, to make it more understandable, places their network use to thrive in the past; it's no longer so now.

That has had some of their customers, including me, jump ship in search of greener pastures where we can get uninterrupted services, but do we get that with the other network providers we joined? Well, I really can't say we did, but then it was a bit better and fairer than what we've had with MTN, because MTN, which used to be everywhere you go, can now decide to disappear for hours, leaving customers stranded, while other network providers also do the same. I think it's manageable because, compared to MTN, other network providers, although expensive themselves, are relatively cheaper for calling and browsing.

Talking about the network providers I use, I actually use three different network providers simultaneously. As you might have predicted, I use MTN, and alongside it, I also use Glo and Airtel, and each one of them is always active. But if I were to pick which one I use the most, I'd say it's my Glo network provider, and the reason for that isn't far-fetched: Glo data subscriptions are quite cheaper compared to other network providers, and it's also quite faster to surf through the internet compared to others, and when it comes to calling as well, their charges for calls are quite low compared to others.

Airtel is also good with browsing with a fast delivery when going from one webpage to another. I despise them for one thing, and that's the way their network often disappears once it's 12:00am every single day. It's quite frustrating because sometimes I might be busy doing something important online, and all of a sudden the network will disappear entirely, only to come back after five minutes or so. Since the discovery due to their consistency in disappearing at that time, it has made me either switch to another network before then or stop using them outright once it's nighttime.

All photos are taken and edited on canva.