Start-up firms in the Nigerian Information Technology space have moved to address challenges impeding ubiquitous access to the Internet.

The firms, which have developed some wireless services, said the solution would address quality of service issues as well as high data tariffs, findings by our correspondent have shown.

It was also learnt that the start-ups were seeking to make it easier for Nigerians to connect to the Internet by offering ‘truly’ wireless service.

They intend to give true value for money while keeping low pricing and increased flexibility having realised that connection to the Internet via mobile platforms was huge.

Some of the start-ups, especially those on the DEMO Africa 2014 list, noted that diverse access plans with competitive prices were seriously being considered in the scheme.

For WhiteSpaces, which is another platform, users are being offered unlimited data.

The Founder, WhiteSpaces, Mr. Mark Afolabi, explained that, “The project is being piloted in a community in Ekiti State and will offer users unlimited data for about N1, 500 ($9) monthly.

“Pricing is very competitive; but the start-ups would have a free plan that allocates free monthly data to users on a monthly basis, and this data would be capped, and allows upgrade for paid plans, while affordable paid plans will provide unlimited data to users for between N1,500 and N2,000 monthly.”

Afolabi added that the service could be used by anyone with any Wi-Fi-enabled device.

“Every user with a smartphone, laptop, table Personal Computer or any Wi-Fi enabled device can use our service. We are also looking at partnering with some organisations to provide community centres where users who don’t have device can come and access Internet,” he explained.

Another startup, Citinet, said it had successfully conquered communities in the South-East zone, “as data consumers are daily doing away with the challenges of accessing the Internet in the midst of poor quality of service, high tariffs and other data cap challenges.”

Mr. Paul Uche of Citinet said, “We decided to focus on the communities because we realised that they are more faced with challenges of quality of service since the telcos may sometimes not consider the villages and interiors as economically viable.”

He added, “More so, the telecoms companies sometimes perceive these areas as hard to reach, so they tend to focus on the urban areas where they have still not provided strong service and where we are also providing wireless service to data consumers.”

However, telecommunications companies in Nigeria have blamed excessive rainfall in some parts of the country for poor quality of service on various networks.

Link: http://www.punchng.com/business/technology/it-start-ups-move-to-address-poor-internet-access/

“Pricing is very competitive; but the start-ups would have a free plan that allocates free monthly data to users on a monthly basis, and this data would be capped, and allows upgrade for paid plans, while affordable paid plans will provide unlimited data to users for between N1,500 and N2,000 monthly.”

Afolabi added that the service could be used by anyone with any Wi-Fi-enabled device.

Being piloted in Ekiti state, extend it to the neighboring Osun sap sap.