Nigeria still at bottom of 4G speed, user experience

A survey by network monitoring outfit, OpenSignal shows that the dearth of infrastructure and congestion are frustrating the Fourth Generation (4G) services user experience in many countries including Nigeria.

According to the survey, Nigeria ranked 75 out of 77 of the countries surveyed in terms of 4G speed and user experience. The 4G is the fourth generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology, succeeding 3G. Potential and current applications include amended mobile web access, IP telephony, gaming services, high-definition mobile TV, video conferencing, and 3D television.

The report revealed that “The 4G networks enjoyed today are light years from the 3G that kicked off the mobile data revolution at the turn of the millennium, but the networks have their faults. The biggest among them are inconsistency and congestion.

Recall that in 2016, leading network operators lead by MTN, Glo and Etisalat (now 9Mobile) and mid-2017, Airtel had rolled out 4G services in Nigeria in quick succession with the hope to give subscribers a new experience entirely.

However, the 4G experiences of Nigerians have been laced with anger, frustrations and complaints of poor quality of service due to observed slow connections and jumping drop calls.

Explaining more in a telephone interview, President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, said quality of service will only rise on steady investment and network upgrade.

According to him, “The reasons for poor service experience are that the 4G/LTE is still evolutionary, and the infrastructure to run it is still very much inadequate in the country”.

OpenSignal in its report, corroborated Teniola’s position, saying “The study analysis showed the enormous extent to which 4G speed drop when most people are awake, using their smartphones and wanting a great mobile data experience. This fall in speeds indicate the pressure from millions of simultaneous users with which operators must cope”.