Introduction
The ISP Market In Nigeria

Without a doubt the ISP(Internet Service Providers) market has been the most competitive space in the tech industry. I will be exploring the history of ISP from the customer’s point of view as well Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs). I will also provide a glimpse into the current trends and competition in the ISP market. Hopefully readers will know a bit more about the history of ISPs in Nigeria and will be able to make better decisions on the next ISP to use for themselves and their businesses when necessary.

History


Phone Lines
The first ISP were organisations like the government owned Nitel and privately own Econet. Which used good old telephone lines to connect to the internet. Back then, you either payed for those or just had to go to the cybercafe. Especially since buying computers alone were very expensive. At the time, internet where seen as only for the privileged or for businesses.

Dial Up Modems
The next generation of ISP providers came through dial up modems. ISP providers such as Multilinks, Visafone, Starcomms and Zoom entered into the market to provide internet at faster and cheaper rates. This meant that a lot more Nigerians could not only afford access to the internet but it was more portable as modems could be moved around easily. The cost of computers had also dropped, with cheaper laptops being more readily available. Unfortunately, some ISP providers such as Zoom couldn’t survive the competition in the market. Multilinks and Visafone became the dominant players for a period of time, but that didn’t last for too long.

Broadband

After some time, the major mobile network providers such MTN and Glo took interest in ISP market. They decided to offer broadband internet with faster speed than what the previous ISP’s were providing. The big gamble these new ISP providers took was that instead of providing unlimited data caps like the previous ISP, they provided limited data. This was enough to win over customers and within a short time these new ISP providers had taken over the market. The market was split between those that cherish unlimited data plans even if it meant lower connection speed, and those that preferred faster internet no matter the consequences. Eventually most users chose the later option, leaving the likes of Multlinks and Visafone with far less user. ISP’s like Multilinks and Starcomms slowly but surely shrunk down to oblivion while Visafone were able to adapt well enough to keep their head above water. Major ISPs became the ones running the ISP market with new mobile network providers like Etisalat and Airtel (Formerly Zain) coming into the market.

All these was just beginning of what would become the most intense war the tech industry had ever seen.

SOURCE - www.lifeofanaijageek.com

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