Nigerian Internet. We have a long long way to go.
So about 18 months ago, when we moved into the iROKO offices in Anthony, we had to find a solution to the ‘Internet problem’. Whilst in Festac, and starting up iROKO, we had literally tried EVERY Internet Service Provider (ISP). To be honest they were all expensive and rather crappy. We were paying approximately $3,000/month for 2–3Mb up and down. Pitiful. Mind you this was for 40+ people. I remember the CNN Africa Voices interview I did in May 2011, then anchor Christian Purfoy was trying to log onto NollywoodLove, the browser crashed. Cue massive global embarrassment. An Internet company with crappy Internet connection. Brilliant. Nigeria 0.01.
If we were text based, no problem. Mobile and Internet providers are okay at providing that. Video? Different ball game. There are very few things more data intensive than consuming video online. YouTube could not have existed in the US without the massive wave of broadband adoption and increased penetration from 2005 onwards. Access was largely solved. So they literally blew out. Remember Netflix went streaming around that time too. No coincidence.
So back to little me in May 2011. At that time we were furiously acquiring and trying to upload >100Gb/day as we populated NollywoodLove and our then other YouTube adventures. This was brutal and in the end the most efficient and economical thing for me to do was to load up a hard drive with 500Gb, jump on a plane myself (on some occasion) send it to Google offices in London to upload from there. Ridiculous.
Enter my saviour. Somehow, someway MainOne CEO, Founder, Chief Evangelist Funke Opeke (recently named CNBC Businesswomen of the Year) and I met. At the ceremony in SA she stated…
‘Main One Cable Company was founded five years ago with a passion to bridge the digital divide by improving Internet access and reducing cost in West Africa, especially for young people. Since our cable was launched in 2010, we have started making tremendous impact on businesses and communications in Nigeria, Ghana and other markets.
However, we are not there yet and are determined to keep working towards realizing our vision of a better-connected Africa. We are sure it will make for a better tomorrow’,
Funke actually reached out to me. She told me she felt the fact I had to jump on planes to London to upload Nigerian content was unacceptable and that we should have a conversation about the solution. MainOne was that solution. Within a few days we had hashed out a deal which saw us circumvent the local ISP’s and go straight to the wholesale backbone of Nigerian Internet. We now have 15Mb (up and down) burst-able to 30Mb internet with remarkable reliability. How is this possible? MainOne power (direct) point-to-point microwave is how. A 160ft tower was erected at our office location. I still think it’s the coolest thing ever and usually show people who come to visit the office. This solution was not cheap though. Across my two buildings in Anthony I still spend $70–100,000/year getting awesome Internet. But MainOne has reduced wholesale pricing by at least 80%. And by the sounds of things to come, we have more price savings to enjoy. Without that, the Internet boom can never manifest. Regardless of how much advertising money you throw at it.
When I look at how easy it was to connect the London, NYC and JoBurg offices (wired and no need for 160ft towers), I really appreciate how brutal it is doing business in Lagos and Nigeria. And truly appreciate we are 1–2 years into what will be at least a 10-year journey.
Nigeria 2.0