Electricity, Internet, and Telecommunications (or lack there of)

In developed countries, electricity and internet are considered basic necessities.  Sure, one can go camping for the weekend and “rough it,” but in general, there is relatively easy access to internet and reliable, uninterrupted power.  While the at times the connection may be slow, there is internet at home, at the office, and on the go via smart phones or mobile hot spots.  When we do find ourselves unexpectedly ‘disconnected,’ frustrations tend to escalate quickly.

In Abjua, the capital of Nigeria, growth is everywhere.  The skyline is dotted with cranes and there are on-going construction projects every which way you look.  If you look closely at some ‘palm trees’ you will notice they are not trees at all, but cleverly crafted cell phone towers. With this growth, one would expect to find sound infrastructure, which is surprisingly absent.

Take telephones for example.  There is little to no landline service.  Most homes and business do not use landlines.  For instance, my client and hotel both have telephones in each room / office.  However, these phones are not connected to an outside line, rather they function as an intercom system within the building.  This however, is not too surprising, as landlines are becoming a technology of the past.  Even in the states, land lines are declining while mobile phones are on the rise.  With the abundance of cell phone towers and the relatively cheap operating costs, one would think that service (at least in the city) would be quite good.  This is definitely a wrong assumption.  Verizon’s “can you hear me now” campaign would not be very successful here.  In fact, my client has three cell phones (on for each network) so that she can be reached by phone.

Internet is another slow comer to Abuja.  While the city is leaps and bounds ahead of the rural areas, there is a lot of room for improvement.  Websites are not yet common place and are often very basic in design and content.  Most Wi-Fi is provided via satellite and is plagued by slow connection speeds.  Additionally, it is often intermittent due to inclement weather and power outages….yet people still find a way to update their Facebook status.

Power is at the heart of the issue.  If you do not have consistent, uninterrupted power, how do you expect businesses to run, traffic signals to function, machinery to operate?  They don’t.  In Abuja large intersections may be manned by a traffic warden, but not all of the time.  At work, unless there is a back up generator, you operate in the dark, which leads to most processed being done manually—e.g.,  pushing paper.  No electricity also means no air-conditioning in the summer, no power to run office equipment, no IT in the classrooms.  To help ease the power problem, electricity is shifted to the business district during the day and to residences at night.  As such, we know we will not be working any late nights, as the business day must end by 5:30, as the light are soon to go off…

In Abuja the lack of stable electricity and telecommunications couldn’t be more clear.  Most cell phones double as a flashlight.

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