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Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) - Business (5) - Nairaland

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Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Iykenuwa(m): 2:16pm On Jan 10
Rapmoney:


Yes, you are correct. And that Samsung blue face that has a blinking sensor light.

R220, that was my first phone
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Barcalee: 2:17pm On Jan 10
My maternal uncle chop one money that time and he wanted to buy Econet SIM for 8k I discouraged him and told him to calm down that it will crash further. He went ahead to buy it,a week later the SIM card crashed to ₦200😂😂😂
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by goslowgoslow(m): 2:19pm On Jan 10
trium:


Can we please leave the age debate? We were all born at a certain time and no one should be ashamed of anyone's age.
"I no be your mate"
So what? You are likely to become an ancestor faster than the Person you are showing off to. What I wanted to respond to before the digression is Mulitlinks. I was looking for a clip f Levi hosting the show on NTA
Mr Trium always read well, comprehend and follow the thread before jumping into comments.
If you follow my comments with him you could have directed your comment about age to him not me.
He was the one calling the OP a kid because he doesn't know about NITEL pay phones and I told him that he is also a kid because doesn't know about land lines like people born in my own time. He went on to say he is not my mate.
He actually said "I no be your mate" not me.
He brought the age issues into the thread not me, I only gave him the response that he deserved but here you are jumping into what you weren't following. Please go back and read properly!
Trium was also an old phone I use it those days coincidentally that is your moniker.

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by meobizy(f): 2:21pm On Jan 10
This was the POS business of the early 2000s. I last heard of call centres in 2009, thereabout. Old things shall pass away. Change is the ultimate. One day, children on social media will reminisce of POS centres. God knows what will replace them then.
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by zanjorrg(m): 2:23pm On Jan 10
Proudlyngwa:
shocked
My Own story long

We were three that contributed money to buy our Econet SIM around 60 k that year , I think we got a used sagem phone for 18 k as one of us was working at computer village, laslas na loss that line loss.

I went to mowe ibafo to do a small job when I saw MTN line on promo 38 k, Omo I book the line down with 14k, take off go back ikotun borrow from everybody borrowable, after paying dem tell me say na after 21 days the SIM go work, I say no wahala.
As I travel go for my grand ma burial before I return line don turn 22k . embarassed embarassed embarassed all this was around year 2000


As I go village that year , I no come get phone one of my padi no get line, so I give am the line as sharp Igbo man to start phone booth, chukwudi use my line start with recharge card and booster card. With wooden bench and one umbrella.
From there nwoke erewa bouns and minerals for Ihie junction, close to Alaoji upgrade to sell , earpiece, universal charger and casing.
Today Nwanna is a big boy , wholesale of accessories with provisions with a house of his own and kids.

Wetin cause our fight MtN call me say as number 1 customer come and carry rice and groundnut oil,
I tell Chukwudi, chukwudi say we go share the rice 50/ 50 but owuya ge bu the groundnut oil, I said mbanu before Abraham Jesus was, they are rewarding the owner of the line , not the user or UseE`.
Laslas na Eze Reuben palace, we settle am, I collect my SIM, half bag of rice, groundnut oil and later bonus of 5k

MTN you guys try that year.

Till today Chukwudi still recognises me as the harbinger of his success
Nwanna Udo ga diri.

Why am I saying this
With just my small SIM Card , I bought at Mowe someone is made today

I wish I was at home , I would have snapped all the booster cards and recharge cards I still have them stored somewhere.

Also there was this guy babaugo also called computer from Amapu, who could formulate recharge card numbers sometimes it entered sometimes it didn't.

Why did I keep all those recharge cards , remembered that Mtn craze that happened one time when you could load recharge cards, nna me self get reach 10k.


I only did welcome back once around 2003 since then na the same SIM I dey use. The line highest I'm dey get na H, no H+ but trust me I dey see network for Sahara ocean and Atlantic desert .

Make Una no vex , I been talking saying my story long


MTN started operation in Nigeria in 2021. How come you bought promo Sim at 38k in 2000?
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Proudlyngwa(m): 2:32pm On Jan 10
zanjorrg:



MTN started operation in Nigeria in 2021. How come you bought promo Sim at 38k in 2000?
By the time you understand the word around


Or know the difference between around and in

You will know what am saying

I remember watching champions League final 2005 in the east via this video that was working with CTL decoder, this had already happened long B4 I relocated as I had already done a welcome back on my line, that is why I said around year 2000 , I never gave a definite time
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by DeeScan: 2:36pm On Jan 10
opera1:
MTN really milked us before the arrival of Glo
that South African company though
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Makamatic: 2:36pm On Jan 10
ednut1:
With the new tarrifs the business may be coming back

Why so boss ?
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Chemlite: 2:38pm On Jan 10
Quelme:
Those were the days. Sim card was like an holy Grail.
Nokia 3310 reigned supremo.
Sagem
Motorola
Sendo
Samsung blue screen
Alcatel

Everything has it time and season. Vanity indeed....
[color=#006600][/color]

Nokia 3310 with "Come fill Me" ring tune
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by CorrectionFLuid: 2:39pm On Jan 10
SeverusSnape:
... And the most common phone for the business then was NOKIA 3310.

True, another common one was Samsung R220

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by alizma: 2:40pm On Jan 10
HelenaWills:

I bought my first MTN sim for 18k, it came with a big case like that of a compact disc of old.
I didn't come across a phone until about 2 years after.
This is one of the founding fathers of SIM card in Nigeria. My friend was one of them. He bought Samsung M100 or so and he had to hustle for another 2 or 3months before he could buy the SIM for 18k, as if that was not enough punishment, anytime he wants to make call, we had to Trek about a kilometre to a particular area where there used to be fluctuating MTN service. When we get there, he will be working around like some who just lost his life savings and in search of it. Then I was like me, use my money go buy punishment when my mama never chop belefull ? I no go do am. Another punishment that accompanied the phone then was that he became an emergency FBI, every movement by strange persons around him or around the phone were closely monitored to avoid stories that touch. In all, ladies were the victims, don't ask me for clarification.

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by CorrectionFLuid: 2:41pm On Jan 10
Rapmoney:


Yes, you are correct. And that Samsung blue face that has a blinking sensor light.

Samsung R220

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by jojothaiv(m): 2:42pm On Jan 10
gasparpisciotta:
That was the early days of GSM in Nigeria.

POS is the new life saver.

The entrepreneurial spirit of many Nigerians is the reason why we have not set this country on fire.

Political leaders do nothing but feed fat in the struggle of the average Nigerian.

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by CorrectionFLuid: 2:44pm On Jan 10
Rapmoney:


If you weren't born then or you were still a kid, you ask questions so that you can be educated. People bought simcards even above that price.

And while he's at it, he should keep in mind that 68k then is not the chewing gum money it is now.

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Izuchukwu70: 2:57pm On Jan 10
Oluwabugyyolo:
SIM card 68k


I bought mine 50k. In 2002 February.
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Neddyogu(m): 2:57pm On Jan 10
Oluwabugyyolo:
SIM card 68k

U doubt it? Dem born una come meet GSM for Naija so I no blame u joor.
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by ChikezieU(m): 3:10pm On Jan 10
Rapmoney:
Do you still remember when people used to pay for phone calls at phone booths? Then calls were charged per minute. If you make a phone call of 1 minute 3 seconds, you would be requested to pay for two minutes. I still remember how we were very careful then, always talking and looking at the phone screen to see that it didn't exceed the money we had budgeted to spend for the call.

Then, if someone wanted to call you, the call business operator would notify you and you stay close by so that you could receive the call through his or her phone. I think the per second billing by Glo and the reduction of the price of simcards killed this business.

Some people here may not be able to relate with these because they were born when sim cards and phones became available like sachet water. My neighbour as at then bought MTN simcard for N68,000.
With compact disk housing the sim

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by automantle: 3:16pm On Jan 10
I use my SIWES pay to buy my MTN sim at 7500 Naira. Na rush and luck for me then, cos it crashed from 30k .
But real deal for students then was how the GSM became a life saver. Several times, I received recharge card pin to sell to the phone operator then.
Alot of memories, both good and bad .
I will still like to own that Nokia 3310
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by zanjorrg(m): 3:19pm On Jan 10
Proudlyngwa:

By the time you understand the word around


Or know the difference between around and in

You will know what am saying

I remember watching champions League final 2005 in the east via this video that was working with CTL decoder, this had already happened long B4 I relocated as I had already done a welcome back on my line, that is why I said around year 2000 , I never gave a definite time

Well, I'm just curious. Event that happened around 2000 has nothing to do with 2001. Around 2000 could simply means of any of those months in 2000 since you are not definite.

MTN got their license in Jan /Feb 2001 and became operational in August 2001. You should definitely get your Sim around 2001 ending or early 2002.

Anyone that says he/she got their MTN Sims before August 2001 is definitely not speaking the truth
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Rapmoney(m): 3:29pm On Jan 10
Iykenuwa:


R220, that was my first phone

God bless you, my brother.

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Rapmoney(m): 3:43pm On Jan 10
goslowgoslow:

Stop showing yourself! The post is about GSM technology. You are equally a small boy if that is the case because before NITEL pay phone it used to be landlines at homes, very few people could afford it. When I have a call my neighbor who had it will come and call me to receive my calls and I will remain in his flat for some time in case of call back. Back then it was exclusively for the rich and they hardly use it for business.
That was very common in the 70's to 80's.

Thank you my brother. I ignored him because I went through his posts on Nairaland, and found out that he is still a kid. When children post comments on social media, you will know.

2 Likes

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Govocrete: 3:43pm On Jan 10
I remembered buying my Sim card for #27,000
And a V55 Motorolla for #50,000.

I also remembered while answering my call on faithful day, hawker at Wilmer Busstop were shouting "E no dey work, E no dey work".

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Philip4564(m): 3:47pm On Jan 10
This business is still in existence in some part of this country.
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by goslowgoslow(m): 3:47pm On Jan 10
Rapmoney:


Thank you my brother. I ignored him because I went through his posts on Nairaland, and found out that he is still a kid. When children post comments on social media, you will know.
You are welcome.

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by SeverusSnape(m): 3:53pm On Jan 10
EmmyMaestro:


The phone can be used as a projectail if they stone you with it, OYO is your case
grin
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Proudlyngwa(m): 3:57pm On Jan 10
zanjorrg:


Well, I'm just curious. Event that happened around 2000 has nothing to do with 2001. Around 2000 could simply means of any of those months in 2000 since you are not definite.

MTN got their license in Jan /Feb 2001 and became operational in August 2001. You should definitely get your Sim around 2001 ending or early 2002.

Anyone that says he/she got their MTN Sims before August 2001 is definitely not speaking the truth
Oga maybe you need to know what around means in time especially when it has to do with periods.
We are talking of approximately 25 years ago, how the hell do you expect me to keep the exact time or year in my head that is why I said around year 2000, what I am hundred percent sure is it happened before 2003 because I had done a welcome back before then. and I can remember that because I did the welcome back after I had done my grand mothers burial so how do you expect me to remember an inconsequential thing like remember when I bought my first SIM card around 25 years ago.

1 Like

Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by regenerateman(m): 3:59pm On Jan 10
Proudlyngwa:
shocked
My Own story long

We were three that contributed money to buy our Econet SIM around 60 k that year , I think we got a used sagem phone for 18 k as one of us was working at computer village, laslas na loss that line loss.

I went to mowe ibafo to do a small job when I saw MTN line on promo 38 k, Omo I book the line down with 14k, take off go back ikotun borrow from everybody borrowable, after paying dem tell me say na after 21 days the SIM go work, I say no wahala.
As I travel go for my grand ma burial before I return line don turn 22k . embarassed embarassed embarassed all this was around year 2000


As I go village that year , I no come get phone one of my padi no get line, so I give am the line as sharp Igbo man to start phone booth, chukwudi use my line start with recharge card and booster card. With wooden bench and one umbrella.
From there nwoke erewa bouns and minerals for Ihie junction, close to Alaoji upgrade to sell , earpiece, universal charger and casing.
Today Nwanna is a big boy , wholesale of accessories with provisions with a house of his own and kids.

Wetin cause our fight MtN call me say as number 1 customer come and carry rice and groundnut oil,
I tell Chukwudi, chukwudi say we go share the rice 50/ 50 but owuya ge bu the groundnut oil, I said mbanu before Abraham Jesus was, they are rewarding the owner of the line , not the user or UseE`.
Laslas na Eze Reuben palace, we settle am, I collect my SIM, half bag of rice, groundnut oil and later bonus of 5k

MTN you guys try that year.

Till today Chukwudi still recognises me as the harbinger of his success
Nwanna Udo ga diri.

Why am I saying this
With just my small SIM Card , I bought at Mowe someone is made today

I wish I was at home , I would have snapped all the booster cards and recharge cards I still have them stored somewhere.

Also there was this guy babaugo also called computer from Amapu, who could formulate recharge card numbers sometimes it entered sometimes it didn't.

Why did I keep all those recharge cards , remembered that Mtn craze that happened one time when you could load recharge cards, nna me self get reach 10k.


I only did welcome back once around 2003 since then na the same SIM I dey use. The line highest I'm dey get na H, no H+ but trust me I dey see network for Sahara ocean and Atlantic desert .

Make Una no vex , I been talking saying my story long

GSM started in Nigeria in 2001.
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by Proudlyngwa(m): 4:02pm On Jan 10
regenerateman:


GSM started in Nigeria in 2001.
who said it didn't start then
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by writeprof(m): 4:15pm On Jan 10
I said I would not buy SIM card until it's being hawked, and it happened in 2006 when I bought my MTN SIM from a hawker selling the SIM cards on tray in Kofar Kaura Market, Kano.

With my NOKIA 3310, we use to look for network waving the phones grin

Thank God for GLO grin
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by hopedey: 4:17pm On Jan 10
My Dad bought his mtn sim card for 35k
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by mushroomFarm: 4:26pm On Jan 10
free2ryhme:


why shld it pain you that you bought a sim card for 6000 naira and others are paying peanuts for it afterward?

people like you have the suffering and exploiting mentality in their veins and bone marrows

The pain suppose kill you
Is everything alright at home??
Re: Phone Booths: Do You Still Remember This Business In Nigeria? (Photos) by trium: 4:38pm On Jan 10
goslowgoslow:

Mr Trium always read well, comprehend and follow the thread before jumping into comments.
If you follow my comments
I read well and I deliberately quoted your post but it's okay, you are right. Let's focus on topic. Sorry sir.

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