Hi All

I want to start a WiFi browsing service in Nigeria sometime next year.

Browsing internet from your mobile in this country is usually very slow and often expensive. With WiFi you are  able to get speeds up to four times faster than 4g which means your downloads will be much faster and will be much cheaper than through your mobile bundle. 

I want to learn from mistakes of the existing ISPs and mobile operators and really listen to what people want (whether its price, speed, improved customer service etc).  We're going to think differently when it comes to power supply, data plans on offer and ISP used.

To this end, I would be really grateful if you could fill in this poll about your main frustrations with the state of internet services in this country. (it will only take a minute). Please also get any friends you know that have problems with the Internet to get involved too.


Thanks for any comments or constructive criticism you may have x

Merry Xmas in advance

Here is the survey:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dFlqaDdmVmJJYVJkMU82MFpDMmszb0E6MQ#gid=0

I think Internet service business is a profitable business in Nigeria as many people are starting to use computers and the Internet. But stable electricity is still a problem, recently came back from Nigeria and I was using the Internet cafe on a regular basis every now and then the standby generators kicks in when the main power goes off. The noise from the standby generator was terrible unable to talk on skype, the cafe was always full.

Look fora good ISP. I wish you the best of luck with your future business adventures.

Hi Goodman.

Thanks for your advice.

I'm looking at solar to power the operation as i have a little know how in this. Because my business will offer a wifi browsing experience I'm hoping that with the current craze for smartphones and tablets in this nigeria people will bring their own devices to browse if we can offer a stylish and relaxing atmosphere. This means that we will have far less equipment and attending power requirements so a few old car batteries and solar arrays will be enough to power my solution and we can avoid wasting all our money on diesel.

I hear you loud and clear about finding good ISPs as this can be the making or breaking of the business. Will put a lot of time to finding the right guys.

By the way please do fill in the survey in your free time and try to get some of your friends to do so. I'm currently going by my intuition at the moment but really want to make sure it is something the market would want before I jump in.

whatever or however u want it, make it cheap and fast,

and u'll catch the market

Let me get you straight, are you looking at providing wi fi service to Lagos or the whole country, I must say if that what you are delibrating on then I will say it's a great idea, because when you mean wi fi then really won't be any link like modem or whatever all the customer needs is either a laptop or wi fi enabled phone which will be a great idea given the network provided is superb. Don't worry the customers will cover the power fees and more.

@sammirano

Yes that is exactly it.
But probably just in Lagos for now.

Speed is the key thing, also avoid having down time. I hate it when after suscription u stil can not freely browse (connect and disconnect)

You just need to carry out the feasibility studies especially power and the sky is your limit. The market is there and barely tapped.

The Nigerian Government just launched a communication satellite. You may want to put your plans on hold and see how(the Government) deploys its services to the public. The Government may either subsidize access to the net or concession it to a major player which will make internet access dirt cheap!

sammirano:

Let me get you straight, are you looking at providing wi fi service to Lagos or the whole country, I must say if that what you are delibrating on then I will say it's a great idea, because when you mean wi fi then really won't be any link like modem or whatever all the customer needs is either a laptop or wi fi enabled phone which will be a great idea given the network provided is superb. Don't worry the customers will cover the power fees and more.

How can Wi-Fi cover the entire region of Lagos? There's a reason areas with Wi-Fi coverage are called "hotspots". To cover the entire region of Lagos, you cannot use Wi-Fi. You can only use Wi-Max (and of course that requires the client to use Wi-Max capable modems).

@ techbabes

You may like to start intensive feasibility studies on your solar power first: support and maintenance. Do your homework on its expenses too. One truth is that many Nigeria-based services fork out a lot of money on infrastructure thus making their products pretty expensive in the long run. However, you can find a way to go around this  with really good low-energy equipment too.

OK_2_NV:

The Nigerian Government just launched a communication satellite. You may want to put your plans on hold and see how(the Government) deploys its services to the public. The Government may either subsidize access to the net or concession it to a major player which will make internet access dirt cheap!

This is a relaunch with a 15-year lifespan. Remember what happened  after the first one went out of orbit. So so long as we do not carry out our own launch, we may have to rely on (keep on) launching these communication satellites every 15- 20 years.

@logica

Technically, it is actually possible to extend the range of wifi over much longer distances (say 10km or more) using powerful directional antennas. This is what nations like south Korea use to blanket the city in free wifi. The problem with this "top down" approach is that it's expensive and requires government willingness to sponsor the cost as there is no quick way of making money from this investment.

I will use the "ground up" hotspot approach. But there are clever networking methodologies exist out there that you can use to extend the range of these hotspots without  the large price tag.

techbabes:

@logica

Technically, it is actually possible to extend the range of wifi over much longer distances (say 10km or more) using powerful directional antennas. This is what nations like south Korea use to blanket the city in free wifi.

You are not saying anything new here. I'm sure anybody technical enough can tell you that ANY signal can be boosted (repeaters, amplifiers, etc). It's the associated cost that dictates whether or not it makes sense. So the point then will be, why try to use Wi-Fi when Wi-Max makes more sense? By the way the city of Philadelphia was planning on having a blanket Wi-Fi back in 2004 but I don't quite think it happened eventually. They must have seen the associated cost didn't make any sense.

@logica

Thanks for your comment. You are very right that if your aim is for universal coverage in a a city and you have sufficient capital to spend then WiMAX might seem a better option as it travels much further and delivers excellent speeds. The downside howeveR is that WiMAX involves too much upfront investment that you might not reap returns on ( plus I don't have access to it). WiMAX base stations have a much larger footprint so require land to lease and site preparation where a rooftop or simple mast will do for wifi. Secondly you require far much mor power which inevitably is supplied via generators which adds to operating costs in terms of fuel and staff to man the station. I haven't even touched upon the licensing costs.
It will take a a lot more sweat and planning on the ground but I think smartly deployed wifi can be a reasonable alternative for me. It delivers comparable speeds to a near 4g technology like WiMAX in high density locations but at a fraction of the cost which makes more business sense in the case of someone who doesnt have huge financial resources

@kay1kay1

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely look into that area.

Anyway the way I see it, if you want to compete with the current Internet Providers (who use Wi-Max by the way) I don't see how you can cover wide areas as they do, using Wi-Fi without ending up spending more. It's like the man who refuses to buy the "original" light-bulb and continues to buy the "China" ones. The latter is cheaper in the short-run but much more expensive on the long run.

WIFI signal has a limit.

If you want a large and long range wireless internet network you need to build a WIMAX network.

It consist of radio-transitiver and microwave stations.

You do not need to sell devise to get connected because most WIFI devices(phones,laptops, tablets, e.t.c) can connect to WIMAX networks with necessary keys and codes.

As i am writing this i am using a WIFI connection and the up-time and speed are quite remarkable.
Its a relatively new biz but it has come to stay, at least, in my area .
However @op, you may need to focus on the loose areas that need tightening-up .
You may also need to relate with people that have started the service albeit small scale.
Consider forfeiting that "HOT SPOT" terms and make it available to homes(HOME SPOT ) at a minimal cost.
You may test it in your area first and try to reach out to the market by strictly following the economics of :

weighing and balancing the cost of operation (COO) to the service Charge (SC).
Other Indexes are Flexibility, i mean ease of access, and finally, meeting the TARGET AUDIENCE.

That's my contribution.
Good Innovation !

[size=13pt]I believe techbabes has made some feasibility studies before thinking of making such investment. Its a welcome development especially that fact that its going to reduce internet cost and giving one a very reliable speed. With the little research i have made projects like Wireless Philadelphia is facing difficluties because

The truth, of course, is that the incumbent local exchange carriers want unregulated monopolies over all telecommunications

as the poster said dues to the fact that

Philadelphia wanted to bridge the digital divide, so its network provides low-cost access for everyone and discounted access for low-income families.

The major carriers saw this as a big challenge.

[/size]

[size=13pt]WiFi vs. WiMax
WiFi and WiMax are competing wireless broadband technologies that are considered useful for VoIP. What are the pros and cons?
by Hunter Holcombe[/size]

It's no secret that wireless Internet access is growing at a furious pace in urban and suburban America, not to mention the rest of the world. Not only are residences and businesses steadily shifting towards wireless networks for ease of access and cost savings, but free wireless hotspots are popping up all over as commercial venues like cafes, hotels and even restaurants realize that wireless Internet access is becoming a fundamental customer requirement. In fact, it is almost requisite that service-oriented businesses have wireless available for their customers if they are going to compete.

Municipalities are even getting involved, with cities like San Francisco and Philadelphia investing in large-scale wireless networks that will potentially blanket the entire city, providing free wireless Internet access to all residents and visitors and allowing them to surf the Internet from such formerly implausible locations as parks, the bus, or even the beach.
The basic standard for this technology is WiFi. WiFi is primarily used to create a Local Area Network (LAN), which allows users within the network to connect wirelessly. The commonest use is primarily in Internet connectivity, but WiFi is also used for closed-circuit business networking and for connecting consumer electronics, such as TVs and DVD players. WiFi makes connecting to the Internet within a home or business cheap and easy, and it also allows commercial and service venues to provide wireless access to customers and the greater public, within a relatively small service area.

But while WiFi technology has proved largely successful in providing cheap wireless Internet service within close proximity to the WiFi access point, a new technology, WiMax, could expand the potential of wireless penetration and connection quality. Because of the similarity in name, it is easy to assume that WiMax is simply a more refined and more powerful form of WiFi, and one that will render WiFi irrelevant in the near future. This is partly true – WiMax does provide wireless reception over significantly greater distances, and at higher broadband levels. But the technology behind WiMax is significantly different from WiFi, as well as more costly, and most analysts agree that WiFi will continue to be the standard in the near future.

Source http://www.voip-news.com/feature/wifi-vs-wimax-050806/

[size=13pt]WiFi vs WiMAX vs LTE – Which is Best?[/size]

The wireless industry uses many confusing and complex terms and acronyms. Here are three of the major ones, and brief description:

[size=13pt]WiFi[/size]
WiFi stands for “Wireless Fidelity” – just like HiFi stands for “High Fidelity”. It’s kind of a silly abbreviation/name because HiFi is an audio term while WiFi has nothing to do with home sound systems.

WiFi is a LAN (local area network) standard that extends home and business computer networks onto the wireless medium of radio waves. The WiFi standards define how those wifi devices should communicate with each other. The standards are required so that various devices (iPhones, computers, Blackberry’s, etc) can interoperate with each other and have a constructive “conversation”.

[size=13pt]Performance[/size]

WiFi provides aggregate user data speeds from 2Mbps (802.11b) up to around 150Mbps (802.11n). Typical speeds are around 15Mbps (good for most “normal” uses). Latency (packet delay) averages around 10ms with no load (very good). Max distance is typically several hundred feet with standard hardware, although large antennas and special software can enable links over many miles.

[size=13pt]WiMAX[/size]
WiMAX stands for “Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access” – now that makes a lot more sense than WiFi. FYI microwave doesn’t mean microwave oven, it means radio frequencies above 1GHz (although that boundary can be debated).

WiMAX is a WAN (wide area network) standard that is designed to operate in a cell-phone type of network but provide relatively high-speed data access. Like WiFi, it is a networking standard (actually several) that’s designed to allow various devices to interoperate, however unlike WiFi it’s designed to operate over large distances outdoors to support a service provider using a WiMAX network to serve many individual customers. Usually WiMAX is used to provide internet access to end-users as opposed to LAN-style connectivity.

[size=13pt]Performance[/size]

WiMAX speeds depend on the size of the RF spectrum used for the connection. Typical speeds are around 7Mbps download and 2Mbps upload, although newer versions of the standards will increase speeds as networks are upgraded. Latency is typically around 40ms (in contrast with 300+ms for 3G cellular networks), which is a respectable value for general internet use.

[size=13pt]LTE[/size]
LTE stands for “3GPP Long Term Evolution” – 3GPP is a telecom partnership that oversees things like GSM (the cell phone standard). LTE is basically the “next step” for the cell phone companies.

Since LTE is a cell-phone style network standard you can imagine that it’s not used for LAN connectivity, but for internet access (and voice). LTE provides a much more data-focused network than traditional cell networks have so far. LTE and WiMAX use similar techniques to provide higher speeds and better range, but they do it in different ways. It’s kind of like the Mac vs PC argument – they both get the job done, but with different methods and styles.

[size=13pt]Performance[/size]

LTE performance on a loaded network is still in the “TBD” category, but since the underlying technologies and available spectrum are well known we can take an educated guess. Speeds will likely fall around 10Mbps down and 3Mbps up (in the US) to start. Latency should be around 30ms.

[size=13pt]Which is Best?[/size]
First you need to decide if you’re looking for LAN connectivity or WAN (internet) connectivity. If you want LAN functionality then you need WiFi. For mobile internet functionality WiMAX and LTE can both be good options. Both of these standards are considered “4G” connectivity. In the US WiMAX is here now and available in many areas through Clear or Sprint (same network). Verizon is quickly rolling out LTE coverage though and will be caught up within a year or two.

If you want voice service on the same device as your data service then LTE is the best option because there will quickly be many popular handsets with LTE support whereas WiMAX support remains rather sparse on handsets.

For simple mobile data service LTE appears to be the standard that everyone is moving to, so long-term, devices that use LTE will probably be a better investment. If you need connectivity right now then you’ll probably need to go with WiMAX since devices are available and coverage is widespread. WiMAX is definitely a good technology but the market does appear to be shifting to LTE as the global solution for mobile data.

Source http://www.wifihowto.net/wifi-vs-wimax-vs-lte-which-is-best

@emmatok @logica

My personal opinion is that WiFi and WiMax and peacefully coexist - they do so in other countries and really they're not mutually exclusive technologies and can compliment one another.

I'm not going to focus my attention on competing with the current Internet service providers.  I'm not convinced they are doing an excellent job anyway as most people are not are happy based on what I'm observing.

The purpose of me conducting this research is to find out what nigerians really want from an internet service and then deliver specifically to those needs using the right technical solution (whatever that may be).  I personally think its Wifi - you think it's wimax.  For me, I can experiment more easily, cheaply and quickly with Wi-Fi rather than wimax which is why I'm leaning towards WiFi.

If it becomes successful then I can look to scaling it larger and suing different technologies


@reagand2000

I agree with you 100% about reaching out to others who are already doing it, finding the right target audience, testing in a specific area first.  The island or the mainland - what's your opinion on this?

What does it take to create this Wi-fi, the cost involved in setting up one and equipments/tools needed

techbabes:

@emmatok @logica

My personal opinion is that WiFi and WiMax and peacefully coexist - they do so in other countries and really they're not mutually exclusive technologies and can compliment one another.

I definitely did not say they can't coexist, after all I get my service through Wi-Max and then share the connection amongst my computers using a Wi-Fi network. It is the purpose and tool which I question. In other words, I don't think deploying a Wide Area Network (WAN) on a Wi-Fi network is cost effective ON THE LONG RUN. I say on the long run because the Wi-Fi network will not scale well as you increase capacity to match with clientele size. But then let's see how it goes.

@logica

I know you mean well so thank you for your advice.
Scalability is a huge issue if you don't know what you are doing.
Let's see how it goes as you say.

Thanks for all the responses so far guys. Keep them coming.

How soon can you take off after all the due diligence?

I don't know about systems but I do know 36 people who have or have had internet cafe's . Only 3 are still running, limping would be a more correct term. All were killed by fantasy. What fantasy? That there are enough people who ONLY want to send emails to cover the cafe's cost.
If you are starting a cafe or such service, you must target customers who want to do things on the internet. Provide remote desktops with various software. Add value. A word is enough they say.

whether wify or mafy i`m enjoying my AIRTEL with HSDPA connection, let me give u a piece of advice, just don`t enter the business if u are not loaded like other network operators like glo,mtn etc b`cos from what i`m getting from u, u are going to subcribe to an ISP and inturn distribute the network which means most of ur subscriber will be on shared bandwidth and that will lead to slow connection and disconnecton all time, why do u think glo and other network are using the fiber optic cable which for now remain the best means of getting high speed connection and unlimited downloads so think again.

after going through the survey i just notice that this guy is just collecting internet usage statistics in nigeria, he has no intertion of opening internet business.

what i`m getting from u, u are going to subscribe to an ISP and inturn distribute the network which means most of your subscriber will be on shared bandwidth and that will lead to slow connection and disconnecton all time

Not at all. I'm not an amateur nor am I a fool .  I'm not going to build an ISP by piggybacking off the same ISPs people are complaining about.

why do u think glo and other network are using the fiber optic cable which for now remain the best means of getting high speed connection and unlimited downloads so think again.

I promise you that if all the mobile operators were really utilising these fibre optic cables people would not be complaining about prices and speed as they do today.
The fact is most of this capacity is laying waste on the coast of lagos.  Our national backbone is rubbish and the mobile operators and ISPs are not willing to foot the bill to build it (why should they it's the role of the government)  - so they are still relying on the airwaves to serve you and I.

after going through the survey i just notice that this guy is just collecting internet usage statistics in nigeria, he has no intertion of opening internet business.

It would utterly pointless to carry out a survey if it's not going to be used.  I'm simply doing due dilligence to know how much to sell my service, and what potential customers would do online to estimate the throughput I need