The internet situation in Nigeria makes no sense. In Nigeria, the term unlimited data often comes with a catch. Our network providers advertise unlimited plans but hidden in the fine print is the (FUP) (Fair Usage Policy), which is a silent trap that reduces your internet speed after you exceed a certain limit. It’s like walking into a buffet where you are told, you can eat as much as you want. You then go ahead to fill up your plate with enough jolof rice and after the third serving, they tell you “Sorry you can no longer eat rice you can only eat salad.” Eh you see what.
Well in today’s post, I’m going to tell you why we as Nigerians cannot seem to get actual unlimited data. I will be explaining how much data actually cost and I’m also going to explain why companies like Starlink can afford to give out unlimited data and our network providers simply just can’t. So are we being scammed, are we being lied to or is it just impossible?
To fully understand this issue, we must first understand how internet got into Nigeria in the first place. Let’s break it down. First, lets picture this it’s 1995, you are a young Nigerian student and you just heard about this magical thing called the internet but there’s a problem, you can’t use it. Why because, internet access was reserved for a privileged few in the Universities and government offices.
Back then if you wanted to send an email you had to visit a cyber cafe, yeah I’m sure you remember that cyber cafes were a big thing back then. You would have to pay for an hour or there about, log into a slow text based system and pray that NEPA, which was the power holding company back then, wouldn’t take light during your session and if NEPA mistakenly takes light then that was the end of your internet adventure for that day.
Now fast forward to 2001, Gsm licenses were granted to MTN, Econet which is now Airtel and Glo and suddenly mobile phones weren’t just for the rich and the airlines alone. You could now send text messages, make calls and if you were rich enough you could use WAP to browse the internet. But there was a problem. You see, it was so slow because, it was based on 2G. Loading one page on 2G could take 5 minutes and downloading anything over a few kilobytes was a dream.
Now fast forward to the 2010s, submarine cables like SAT 3 and Glowan connected Nigeria to the world. Internet speeds improved and data bundles became the new gold but even then, unlimited data was still marketing fluff. Now even in 2025, how many network providers in Nigeria offer true unlimited data exactly. The moment you cross the 100 gig or 200 gig they slow you down with a Fair Usage Policy.
To be continue on our next post. I will be writing about the reason Why unlimited data still an issue in Nigeria. Watch out for it. Thanks for visiting our blog. Kindly Drop your thoughts in the comments – have you ever hit a “limit” on your so-called unlimited data? I will love to hear from you. Till I come your way next time, remain connected. Till then, check out our other post on how to get affordable data plans
