Majority of mobile phone users in Nigeria use a Smartphone. In 2015, global personal computer (PC) and phone manufacturer, Lenovo said that Smartphone penetration in the country has reached the 30 percent mark. Another report projected that the number of users in Nigeria for 2016 will reach 15.5 million.
Essentially, more people are using Smartphone today than years before. As the number of users increase so will the number of services on offer and the number of telecommunication companies looking to cut a slice of the pie and by extension there will be increase in telephone bills for the consumer.
Already your bills are stacked up; calls, message, data plans, ringing tones, caller tunes, health tips, inspirational messages and non-free apps among others. If you were to compute the total of what you spend on your Smartphone in a month, you will be surprised how much of your income you are expending. However, there are certain precautions that may help you cut some money off your monthly. Moreover what you save can go a long way to paying for other bills.
The first place to start is to review the provider you have been using. Are you getting the best service at the best price? Due to need to competition for the size of the market, providers are constantly creating different innovative products and packages. These packages often come in form of promotions. In many cases most providers tend to entice subscribers with fancy plans that include a bevy of services that has hidden costs and require long, inflexible contracts. Hence before you migrate to a new plan careful do your research. Find out if it aligns with your purpose and does not come with extra charges. ‘Unlimited data’ plans for instance, can mean hefty bills.
Limit the number and length of calls. There was a time when it was the option a phone offers, today you have a plethora of ways to reach your loved ones. Using texting apps are far less expensive to making calls. Apps such as Whatsapp, BBM, Facebook Messenger, Tango – the list goes on, are free and work mostly on four types of Smartphone including Blackberry, iPhone, Google Android, and Windows. You can also the inbuilt phone text message to communicate – its four naira per text.
In situations where the contact you want to reach has a Skype account, use your computer to call. Like texting apps you will need to be connected to a Wi-Fi.
While in the office, you can connect your phone to a Wi-Fi and save your data plan. In fact, use Wi-Fi everywhere you can, like when you lodge into a hotel; visit a gym, a restaurant and so on. If you are a heavy Smartphone user the tendency may be to think that you require expensive service plan, but if you substitute Wi-Fi where you can, you will find that’s rarely the case.
Switch off your plan when not in use and delete apps that you do not use regularly. You can delete apps that carry out similar functions and leave one.
Most apps can do a fair amount of downloading even when they are not open or in use and regardless of how they are connected to the internet. Hence, it is important you consider the cost implication of all the behind-the-scenes action churning through your connection.
You can also opt to view the mobile version of a site as it typically includes far fewer images and is faster to open.
Most Smartphone are currently 4G enabled. This means that you can download a song instantaneously or the latest app in a few seconds. However, this can quickly drain your data. Faster browsing and streaming which are some of the benefits a user enjoys on 4G platforms leaves you out of data and can come at an unexpected price. When switching to 4G from a 3G tariff for the first time, try to save the activities that eat up a lot of your data. Streaming a 15 minute video a day or just half an episode of a sitcom on Netflix can add 1.25GB of data to your monthly usage – that’s extra cost. As much as possible, limit the apps that have regularly pushed content.
FRANK ELEANYA
