We all know that IPTV has its highs and lows, pros and cons in Africa, especially Nigeria. As we are also aware, affordable internet and speed is the major if not the only challenge we face in Africa. In Today’s article, I will be critically analysing and explaining the various cheapest internet subscriptions for IPTV users in Nigeria. This write-up is born out of thorough research in order to bring to you the most affordable internet subscription that you can use with IPTV in Nigeria
What is IPTV? and what is the Relationship with Internet Connection?
While I won’t bore you with the definition of IPTV as you can get the load down here, it will be a disservice if I don’t explain the relationship between IPTV and internet connection. Let me say that the internet is a constant while IPTV is a variable. there is no IPTV without an active internet connection. While internet predates IPTV, IPTV simply exists because of the internet. In a layman’s language, you can stream IPTV contents without internet
Forms of the Cheapest internet Subscriptions for IPTV in Nigeria
We have three broad forms of cheap internet in Nigeria. Every internet plans fall under these categories. These categories are as follows:
- The first and the most reliable and dependable category of internet subscription is the official data plans of individual internet service providers in Nigeria. These are always there anytime, any day but they are the cheapest.
- Secondly, occasional promo for new and existing customers is another form of getting cheap internet subscription in Nigeria. At the moment, hardly will you find one ISP in Nigeria without an ongoing promo. More on this later.
- Finally, the cheapest and the most volatile is unofficial internet packages. Not up to one month ago, there was a loophole in MTN Nigeria network that allowed people to get 120gb free(this was wiped within 24hours though). Similarly, we have various sme or share data packages ongoing. All these and more add up to the unofficial form of internet sub in Nigeria.
Pre-requisites for IPTV Usage in Nigeria
- First off, Research the best affordable network
- Secondly, determine the network strength in your location
- buy the least bundle and test the speed here
- Determine how to use your IPTV service package. Will you use it on an Android tv box, your mobile phone or tablet?
- Calculate the cost and effect of acquiring the IPTV package. As yourself questions like is it worth it? For example, DStv happens to have the most complete satellite paytv package in Nigeria and their highest bouquet costs #15,800. If you must dump dstv for IPTV, it must be from a premium IPTV service provider be it legally(e.g futbol tv, sling tv, NetFlix beIN connect) or illegally(e.g xtream iptv, e-vision, myhd iptv, homelive apollo and so on).
- Next is the calculation to see if it is worth it. For example, if you buy an IPTV account for #5,000 for six months, you may require around 10gb of data per month if you use it sparingly and only for IPTV. 5000/6 + 5000 = #5833 per month. You can even increase your data cost to between #8000 and #10,000 and it will still be cheaper than dstv premium. Now the major challenge is that most iptv only offers sports, movies, news, music. You can’t get local channels on most. Summarily, you may still need to subscribe to a low bouquet on your from your local pay-TV company. While come what may, IPTV can be profitable to sports and movie lovers, the same cannot be said of those who only enjoy local channels.
Don’t miss the followings:
- Lemmy Morgan Cheap & Free Data for MTN, Airtel, Glo & 9mobile-(Update May 2019: Glo 4GB for #500))
- Comparative Analysis of Mobile Internet Data Plans in Nigeria – Which Should you Opt for?
- 4G LTE Cellular Network Technology in Nigeria: Which Networks are Supported?
- How to Watch IPTV Programs Directly form the Source or Safely as Individuals
- Enjoy premium tv programs including sports(using free trial accounts) 100% legal/official
How much Data/Bandwidth does IPTV Streams Consumes?
You can comfortably use a stable 3G network to stream video contents in Nigeria so long the network is fast and stable. In a nutshell, with a download speed of “3.75 Mbps”, you are good to go with 3G networks. Sadly, only 9mobile can offer such speed in Nigeria during peak periods.
As for the data consumption, it depends on the video quality/size. In addition, it can also depend on the device you are using. For example, streaming IPTV program in 4K video resolution can cost you as music as 5GB of data in 90 minutes. Now, streaming the same program in SD like 420 x 574p you can be charge as low as 400MB. Mobile IPTV generally consumes lesser data when you select low video quality. I remember that i have streamed a football match on mobile and I was charged just 250MB for it. I used mobdro back then. Sadly, the lower the resolution, the pooer the video quality. Therefore, you need to trade off one for the other. HD videos are between 700mb in 90 minutes to 1.5gb.
Anytime I will surely recommend a 4G sim in a 4G coverage area and use it for your IPTV. As you can see, my 4G speed gave me a massive 14.5 Mbps of speed. I can comfortably stream in HD with such value.
Important Notice
Before you buy any internet data bundle from any internet service provider, you should be aware of the following conditions:
- Not every IPTV service providers offer videos in SD. Most of them only do HD and 4k videos. If you subscribe to such service and data management is on your mind, you will run at a loss. For example, DStv showmax offers difference low definition videos and they are all very clear. Xtream IPTV(this is a pirated service beware) offers 4K, HD and SD. beIN offers only HD and 4K. the list goes on
- For the best experience, It is strongly advised that you either buy a router for your IPTV need if you will be watching it on a set-top box.
- The best data plan for everyday IPTV is an unlimited plan. If you are on a capped data subscription, you need to be very disciplined as to watch only when need be.
- If you run a soccer viewing centre and you have a good internet connection with reasonable customers, you can’t go wrong with IPTV.
Cheapest Internet Subscriptions for IPTV Streaming in Nigeria
Caution: if you simply want to be using your own IPTV without disconnecting it 24/7, it simply means you want to go for an unlimited data bundle plan. At the moment, I average between 8GB to 10GB monthly for watching IPTV. The reason i am able to do this is that I watch only very important matches on weekends. Secondly, I rarely ever watch in HD or 4k quality.
I will arrange this in order of overall affordability, reliability and speed.
Number 1: Spectranet Nigeria 4GLTE Services
Spectranet services are available in Abuja, Lagos and Ibadan(Some people said it is also available in Portharcourt, Benin e.t.c but are not sure of that) They offer an overall cheapest 4g/LTE plan in Nigeria. Some of their internet data plans recommended for IPTV are as follows.some of their plans usable with premium IPTV packages are;
Spectranet Best Data Bundles that are recommended for IPTV in Nigeria
Data Name | Price | Data Cap | Validity | Other Benefits | Additional Information |
Cheapest ongoing Spectranet promo | #16,000 | 55GB | 30 days | Free Unlimited Night(1am-7am) | #FUP Speed reduces to 512kbps after 100GB is consumed. This put a dent on this plan |
Unified value plans | #3000 | 8GB | 30 Days | 50% anytime data + 50% night only bonus. | |
Mega Value | #12,500( The best reasonable offer that they have) | 40GB | 30 Days |
|
|
Smile is available in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Abuja, Benin City, Kaduna, Onitsha and Asaba. It will please you to know that smile offers the cheapest Unlimted 4G data plan In Nigeria. In addition, it has a slight edge in terms of speed over the competition.
If you plan to use smile network for IPTV, be ready to go for their unlimited plan because that’s the overall cheapest data plan they have. You pay #19,800 and in return, you get their unlimited premium plan for 30 days. Smile has no fair usage policy or speed throttling.
Cheapest Internet Subscriptions for IPTV Services Among the Four GSM Internet Service Providers in Nigeria.
What I mean by GSM is simply our mobile networks in Nigeria like MTN Nigeria, Globacom Nig, Etisalat Nig and Airtel Nig. Luckily, they all offer 4G Networks with glo having the most problematic 4g band amongst the rest. I will Arrange this in terms of the cheapest to the most expensive.
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Number 1: MTN NIGERIA with their MTN Yafun Yafun & MTN Deal Zone Offer
It will surprise many that MTN takes the top spot. Well, I put them here because of their stability, speed and reliability all with an affordable price. The cheapest MTN data plans come in the form of two offers.
- MTN deal zone offer for a special existing customer. On the offer, you can get 4GB of data for just #1000. To check if you are eligible, simply dial *131*65# and follow the prompt. Make sure you don’t have up to 1000 in your account balance. If you receive an “insufficient balance message, congratulations you are eligible. If otherwise, then you are not.
- What is MTN YafunYafun?MTN YafunYafun is a special tariff plan that rewards New MTN customers with lots of benefits after registering and activating a new SIM. Every new customer who purchases either their 4g or 3g sim is eligible. Apart from getting mega call card bonuses, you stand to get double your recharge bonus on every data you subscribe to for the next six months. For example, if you buy their 3.5GB data @ #2,000, you will get 7GB in total. To buy a data plan on an MTN yafun yafun sim, simply dial *131*1#
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Number 2 Glo Nigeria Limited the Grandmaster of Data
Glo is not the self-acclaimed grandmaster of data for nothing. To be honest, they offer the overall cheapest data. Just like mtn, their cheapest data is for their new customers whom they call “Glo oga Customers“. To become a glo oga subscriber, you need to buy a new glo sim. You will get double your data recharge on all glo oga sim for the next 3 months. To migrate to glo oga data subscription, simply dial *777#. Below is a table showing the comparison between glo existing users and glo oga users.
Plan Name |
Price (N) |
Base Plan Volume |
Data Volume with Bonus on base plans |
Validity |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Existing Customers (up to 25% bonus) |
Oga SIM (125% bonus) |
||||
N100 Data Plan |
100 |
80MB |
92MB |
180MB |
2 Days |
N200 Data Plan |
200 |
210MB |
242MB |
472MB |
4 Days |
N500 Data Plan |
500 |
800MB |
920MB |
1.8GB |
14 Days |
N1,000 Data Plan |
1,000 |
1.6GB |
1.8GB |
3.6GB |
30 Days |
N2,000 Data Plan |
2,000 |
3.65GB |
4.5GB |
8.2GB |
|
N2,500 Data Plan |
2,500 |
5.75GB |
7.2GB |
12.9GB |
|
N3,000 Data Plan |
3,000 |
7GB |
8.75GB |
15.7GB |
|
N4,000 Data Plan |
4,000 |
10GB |
12.5GB |
22.5GB |
|
N5,000 Data Plan |
5,000 |
12.5GB |
15.6GB |
28.1GB |
|
N8,000 Data Plan |
8,000 |
20GB |
25GB |
45GB |
|
N10,000 Data Plan |
10,000 |
26GB |
32.5GB |
58.5GB |
|
N15,000 Data Plan |
15,000 |
42GB |
52.5GB |
94.5GB |
|
N18,000 Data Plan |
18,000 |
50GB |
62.5GB |
112.5GB |
|
N20,000 Data Plan |
20,000 |
63GB |
78.75GB |
141.7GB |
The competition they say is good. Airtel is not left out in this wave of double data promo for new customers. Although I am still suspicious of airtel bandwidth calculator, you can’t go wrong if you opt-in as a new user because of their promo. This offer valid for 3 months. Dial *141# on your new airtel sim to purchase the data. To enjoy Airtel double data promo, complete the following steps:
This is the bonus plan for prepaid customers which offers 100% INSTANT bonus on every data bundle plus 8 times bonus on every recharge.
- · Just buy a new Airtel SIM Card.
- · Register the SIM at any Airtel KYC registration point.
- · Insert the SIM in your phone.
- · Recharge to start enjoying SmartCONNECT bonuses.
View the table below to see the list of available plans on Airtel Double Data Offer
500 | 750MB | 1.5GB | 14 Days |
1000 | 1.5GB | 3GB | 30 Days |
1500 | 3.5GB( 2.5GB Day + 1GB Night) | 6GB(5GB Day + 1GB Night) | 30 Days |
2000 | 3.5GB | 7GB | 30 Days |
2500 | 5.5GB(4.5GB Day + 1GB Night) | 10GB(9GB Day + 1GB Night) | 30 Days |
3000 | 6.5GB(5.5GB Day + 1GB Night) | 12GB(11GB Day + 1GB Night) | 30 Days |
4000 | 9.5GB(7.5GB Day + 2GB Night) | 17GB(15GB Day + 2GB Night) | 30 Days |
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9mobile Mega offer for new Subscribers, Campus Offer and Data Accumulation
Sadly, 9mobiles offer for new customers is a one-off package. In other words, you can’t enjoy it more than once. However, they reward existing and loyal customers better than the rest. I will discuss three methods of enjoying the cheapest internet subscriptions for IPTV on 9mobile Network.
- 9mobile one-time data offer only for new subscribers: one-off data: 4.5GB @ ₦500 or 1.5GB @ ₦200 (each with 5 days validity) as a one-off purchase within 30 days. To qualify, buy and register a new 9mobile sim, recharge it with 500ngn or more. Then dial *200# to purchase a data plan.
- 9Mobile Campus data offer: T be eligiblle, you must be within the premises of one of the applicable locations in Nigeria. New & existing morecliq, moretalk, cliqlite & talkzone customers can purchase any of the data bundles at selected campuses. Once activated, the data can be used within or outside the campus.
HOW TO BUY
dial *609*3# (no sms option) 1GB cost 500ngn and it is valid for 14 days.
- How to accumulate data on 9mobile: I have a post on this already so take your time to go through the post and follow the instructions. We also have 9kobile SME data ongoing. check this article for detail
Final Thoughts & Recommendation
To be honest, it is difficult to pick one out of the pack as the best. It all depends on certain variables such as the availability of the fastest network and stability. In my current location, MTN offers the fastest 4G network and i am an MTN Deal zone subscriber.
Furthermore, you can consider the price. If you are in Ibadan or other cities where we have smile network, and you heavily depend on the internet, nothing should prevent you from subscribing to smile unlimited plan.
From another perspective, you may not even need IPTV after all if none of the networks offers a good enough speed for IPTV. At one point in time, even when you have an unlimited plan for IPTV, you may wish to combine local paytv subscription with IPTV so that you can enjoy the best of both worlds.
Finally, i believe with the help of this article, you will be able to make a better decision as regards choosing the cheapest internet subscriptions for IPTV within Nigeria.
Please I need someone to link me to how to subscribe iptv
@Tunde: you want to re-subscribe or you don’t know how to use it at all?
Please what are the price range of a good android box and how do l reach the distributors
Good day, please how can I subscribe. My IPTV in my Decoder has expired. I base in Port Harcourt, 08064758895
Can I share the MTN sme data e.g(60gb for 11k)
Thanks for the information.IPTV seems nice but the internet services in nigeria is a total ripoff, their data gets finished lime water in a basket and they dont offer unlimited as some claim to.
@Peter: only smile offers true unlimited at 19800. Spectranet is also trying.
Please which is the best wifi router for IPTV
strong decoder ? Please I need names and maybe how much its will cost and how to connect it…would appreciate it if u can help with any of the questions above
@Slyvester: can you strong search for and establish an internet connection already?
@Nanaj. I need some information on Ancloud P5, about its internet and data, since you are in Ghana. I need your contact (email or telephone). Thanks, please let me hear from you. +233 54 345 1675
Hello Lemmy Mo, please, i need a wireless rauter,and a sim with data that i can use for 1 year to give internet service to 15 system, can you be of help? How much does it go for?thanking you…
Good day sir,I got some call that qsat is not working and due to fact that am not at home I couldn’t confirm it my self. Therefore,house anyone to tell me the present stage of qsat,its working a tall? Pls house response. Thank for cooperation.
@oluwaa, qsat is currently back. Few channels are working like amc, am world…
This IPTV apk is great. I had few other ones l’hav been using on my injoo android tablet but bein
Sports wasn’t blazing as this. Lovely!!!
Most of the channels can’t play on my galaxy dous2 any help
@Nanaj and @Lemmy, I hope the apk uploaded will not over consume our Data MB… kindly confirm this and I also noticed the app is designed in a language different from English. can’t it be modified ?
Mr. Lemmy, any hope on the Azsky for this EPL season???
@kareem, the two apps are the same but I believe the direct download from the site is an update since I downloaded the first one a few weeks back. I also believe the apk is optimized for smaller mobile devices rather than TV so the pics are a bit hazy on ancloud but excellent on my samsung galaxy phone.
Hi Mr Lemmy, I have a Qsat Q11G, I lost its signal Yesterday. Please Oga what to do to find it? Help me Oga Please.
Nanaj mavellous job.the 1st and 2nd applications are they the same bcos my mobile could not download the 1st one but the2nd one..
@Lemmy good morning! this App Nanaj uploaded, lemmy the link is beautiful. thanks for the good job brothers
@dama, yes very cool. With some beinsports on it.
You can also download the Live sports IPTV APK direct from http://www.lgdgeek.ovh . Enjoy it.
Hi Lemmy,
Thanks for inducting us into IPTV which is the future of TV. The research has already began and the results are mind blowing. As the new soccer season draws near I would love to share this android apk from my google drive for free live sports lovers. The link is https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzP_BVdhxaqhVjIyQXY4MXJMRG8/view?usp=sharing. You can install on your mobile to get free IPTV live sports on the move or best still on Ancloud P5. It can be a substitute when your Homelive subscription rans out, till you renew which I encorage all to do since homelive on ancloud P5 is the ultimate.
pls Lemmy. can can i use my phones hotspot wifi with qsat? if yes how pls i beg u
cos i use tecno p5 and when i conect it as wifi to my laptop it gives me hispeed
but the modem that works with qsat is glo and its 3g ability is not stable at all and i cant use any other modem apart from glo huawei
@snr, read my article on a-z connectivity solution on qsat decoders
Thank u very much for breaking everything down for us thumps up!!!!!
Thanks Lemmy, its really unfortunate that faster internet netwk providers in Nigeria are quite expensive. I was considering Visa fone Bold 5 cos of their unlimited data but now am cleared. I will just go for Q10 and Glo BIS for my Iptv.
hi lemmy glo also offers 4.5gb for N2500 ,dial *127*58# valid for 30days
Gudmorn.Your post was very educative.I ve bin reading abt this iptv for quite some time now.Could u pls inbox me the cost of ancloud 5?
Man thanks for the much awaited info on data.
Keep it up
When i enter the free iptv, it succesfully downloads the channel list but when i click a channel with would show a error message
Its a pity that there is no broadband fibre optic internet provider in Nigeria, in Ivory Coast there is broadband for about N7,000 per month and its unlimited. It eats (streams) youtube hd videos like a pie without a single freeze. In the days ahead I will be requesting the Ancloud P5, keep up the good work.
Thanks bro for d infor we appreciate.
Can BlackBerry data plan work on it using any of bb10 phones via Hotspot
Congrats Lemmy,
I wish we had a genius like you in Gh to do this analysis for us.
The info is helpful and clarify many issues as far data bundle is concerned on iptv…But, pls Lemmy can Visafone Internet package work with ancloud because they offer the cheapest/ unlimited data plan via blackberry bold 5 or so!
@yusuf, blackberry bold 5 hot-spot can not work with iptv
hi mr lemmy, you mentioned above that you used glo bis on tecno android phone. pls mr lemmy, how do i go about using it(glo bis ) on my tecno q1 phone.
You have to root your phone, change the Imei to blackberry imei and subscribe to GLO bis plan. Google it for directions