Smile offers new solution to address early data depletion

Smile Communications Nigeria Limited has introduced new features to counteract unnecessary data depletion, while browsing the internet. The latest innovation tagged Blocking Buttons and Speed Control, will help customers, especially internet users, to stay long on the internet without experiencing early data depletion. The solution is available to all Smile customers through specialised features on the Smile customer portal. The solution will also help to boost broadband penetration in the country, in line with the objectives of the Nigerian National Broadband Plan.

Lee-Ann Cassie, chief corporate services officer, Smile Communications, in a statement in Lagos, said the Blocking Buttons and Speed Control were introduced to enhance customer experience while on the internet. For Blocking Buttons, she said “we were able to identify four categories of websites that consume a lot of data and we created buttons that once activated will block access to these categories of websites.”

She listed the websites identified as the major cause for data depletion due to unprompted downloads and updates, to include Cloud Storage, Automatic Update, Video Streaming and Bit Torrenting, saying “customers also have the additional functionality to block access to high data usage sites via MySmile account in order to manage their data usage.”

The identified sites could be blocked and unblocked at the click of a button as required by the customer, she said, as this inevitably gives customers the power and ability to control the speed, options of 1mbps, 2mbps, up to 5mbps. This is against the background that speed capping prevents streaming sites defaulting to high definition (HD) which uses more data. Recently, Smile made it possible for its customers to change the speed of their internet connection at will, via their on-line Smile account. Being able to change speed of the internet connection will enable customers to manage their data usage by ensuring that sites that automatically select high definition data for very fast networks do not use up data unnecessarily.

For example, on a super-fast internet connection like Smile, YouTube detects the speed of internet connection and automatically delivers high definition video, whereas on slower networks, the customer gets standard definition.

With the new solution, customers now have the option of reducing their connection speed when using sites like YouTube and then going back to high speed for emails, browsing or downloading. The overall aim of introducing the solution, according to Smile, is the desire to encourage customers to fully optimise the huge Smile network capacity that abound in the Nigerian market as well as maximise all possible and accruing benefits while on the Smile network.

Smile Communications Nigeria Limited was founded in 2007, with the transformative objective of using the best and most innovative technologies to provide its customers with high quality, easy to use and affordable communication services.

Ben Uzor