3G Video Calls Unknown In Nigeria?
The advent of Global System for Mobile GSM communications in Nigeria some years ago, ushered in a new level of communications among the Nigerian citizens. In fact, it was held in some circle then that, telephone was the big men, thereby sidelining and ultimately locking the access door to telephony services against the poor. This was so evident at the inception of GSM operation in Nigeria, as only well to do and very few others could afford a Sim card with a phone, that was selling as high as N30,000 in 2001 by the foremost operators, MTN and the then Econet.
Today, the power of communications is now very much accessible and maintainable even by the very poor that was denied yesterday. All thanks to the competition that came as several operators were granted access to do business in the Nigerian telecoms segment of the economy. With billions of dollars investments by the various operators, and the roust business empire it has created among other markets in Africa, Nigeria indeed is a haven of telecoms success story.
However, the benefits of the GSM operations in Nigeria, have over the years be restricted to voice services, as a lot of people taught that, all a handheld telephone device can do was just to call, hear and be heard by the parties exchanging such calls. This of course is the layman understanding of a GSM service(s).
With the constant evolutions in the technological strata in the world over, particularly as it relates to how and the use of telecommunications gadgets, it should be noted therefore, that GSM services goes very far and beyond voice services. Again to the layman, this may appear strange. Nevertheless, GSM has other services that majority of the populace may never use or cannot use, by reason of the knowledge and the technology involved for its successful usage.
The second most recognized product of GSM is the ability to surf the internet. This was a service that could only be accessible before the introduction of GSM in Nigeria, by visiting cyber cafes. The operators of these cyber cafes were having a field day at that time and into several years of GSM operations but, not any more. In fact, there are fewer cyber café operators today as a result of the ability of GSM phones including the ‘ordinary’ ones to access the internet from the comfort of the individual owner’s home.
Now, with the government licensing these GSM operators to now offer 3G services, with different operational fees, most Nigerians including my humble self, have also restricted the services of 3G to mean surfing the internet with a higher speed as against what ordinary GSM license could offer. Just like in the case of GSM, 3G has more services it can offer other than just surfing the internet at a ridiculous high speed on the network of the operators that currently have its coverage in selected cities and towns across Nigeria.
The essence of the post is on 3G video calls. Why is 3G video calls unpopular among the Nigerian telecoms subscribers today? Is it that the operators themselves careless about creating the awareness among their subscribers to embracing the service? Or, does it mean that 3G video calls is ‘too expensive’ that a subscriber can afford? These and many more are questions begging for answers.
Moreover, when you visit the ‘Phone Section’ of a popular Nigerian Forum, Nairaland – www.nairanland.com owned by Seun Osewa, you will discover the wonderful testimonies that Nigerians are sharing among themselves about how they enjoying their 3G network in their domain to the maximum benefits. This usage is however restricted to surfing the internet on high speed, without a single mention of using this same 3G on making video calls.
Over the years of 3G introduction to Nigeria by the telecoms operators, one aspect they were capitalizing during their adverts was video calls amongst other services. Nigerians, is 3G video service known or unknown to you? As a user of high end Smart phones and Tablets, do you video call on your gadgets? Why is 3G video calls unpopular among Nigerians today?

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Culled from http://emwanta..com/2013/05/3g-video-calls-unknown-in-nigeria.html

this is an interesting aspect of gsm but unfortunately, people orientation about it is very low. I have been using it on my glo and mtn network for years. It is important especially when u have visual informations to pass across. The only imitating factor about it is that many people phones are not 3g enabled which always give limit to the number of people one can get across to thru video call and I believed our operators are not really doing things to open the eyes of people to this important aspect of telecommunication. I just showed it to someone now and the man (a doctor in political science) was screaming.

seunlayi: this is an interesting aspect of gsm but unfortunately, people orientation about it is very low. I have been using it on my glo and mtn network for years. It is important especially when u have visual informations to pass across. The only imitating factor about it is that many people phones are not 3g enabled which always give limit to the number of people one can get across to thru video call and I believed our operators are not really doing things to open the eyes of people to this important aspect of telecommunication. I just showed it to someone now and the man (a doctor in political science) was screaming.

You can imagine that even with the knowledge this man has in his field of chosen carrier, he didn't know about the tool available within his reach. Primarily, the buck of the blame lies within the operators doorstep, as they are not doing enough to make 3G video calls and services known among their subscribers.

@ mod, topics like this suppose to be on the frontpage. @topic, this is the reason why I always have at least a Symbian phone with dual camera with me. I did it with someone now, she ran away from me thinking it was because we were sitting close that was why she can see me on her phone. I don t see reason why people will buy her phone at high price only for it to be under utilized.

seunlayi: @ mod, topics like this suppose to be on the frontpage. @topic, this is the reason why I always have at least a Symbian phone with dual camera with me. I did it with someone now, she ran away from me thinking it was because we were sitting close that was why she can see me on her phone. I don t see reason why people will buy her phone at high price only for it to be under utilized.

My friend, she simply ran away because, she had never taught of a GSM phone ability to do more than just placing & receiving voice calls, writing & receiving SMS, snap pictures, play & record videos, play & record music, chat & ping with friends, browse the Internet etc. Now, with people spending good money to buy the gadgets of their choice like the iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One X, Blackberry Z10, Nokia Lumia 920, Sony Xperia Z etc. without maximising its usage, it will amount to underutilization and sometimes, a waste of valuable resources.
If you want to show off your class as it may relates to your phone - freaking fashion style, buy what you can manage maximally using all the gadgets potentials. Thank you.