Cybercafé biz down, but not out
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- Category: Business
- Written by Amarachukwu Ogbu & Amarachi Duruanyim
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When asked if he operated the cybercafé along with any other business, he replied: “Yes thankfully, when I started I did not just focus on surfing the net. But I included the business centre aspect as well so even if the café is not moving well, the business center is still there and thriving well. People still come to do their paper work like typing, binding and printing of documents so it is not all lost. The café business might be slow and dwindling but projects by students and public servants go on. So it is still a win-win affair for me,’’ he said, smiling.
Similarly, Chukwuma Okoro, another cybercafé operator in Kubwa said that the invasion of BlackBerry and other HTC phones cannot overtake the cybercafé no matter how widespread the use of BlackBerry has become in our world today. This is because cybercafés are more vast and comprehensive in data storage and data references than the BB. For now, yes you could say that people want to join the craze for BlackBerry, Nokia, and HTC phones but it all boils down to one thing; how many people can afford it? Even the modems they are talking about sometimes the band width are overcrowded and it becomes slow. So at the end of the day, they still fall back on the services of the cybercafé. Okoro supports his business by selling snacks and drinks.
Mr. Olaseni Kayode of `Kems Information Technology, Kubwa, said that phones do not affect cybercafé business because what a lot of Nigerians normally do with their phones is chatting and browsing on Facebook. “You cannot do any serious work through the phone. For instance, if you want to scan and send you CV, you cannot do that through the phone and when you really need to source good information, you basically have to go to the cybercafé.”
However, the manager at IK’s Communication, Maitama, agrees that the introduction of BlackBerry and other internet facilities today has left cafés to low patronage. “For instance, you can see in our price list, we started with N120 per hour but now we are collecting N80 per hour. You can see business is not moving well at all, but we will always be here, keeping our fingers crossed. The patronage is low but we are still relevant in one way or the other. Many of the cybercafé operators now combine it with computer classes, selling of recharge cards and soft drinks,” he stated.
Dekpo Moheye is one that still helps keep the cybercafé business moving. Because his phone does not have internet facilities, he therefore patronizes cybercafés. “Most of the phones with internet facilities are really very expensive and so I have no choice than to resort to the cyber cafes for most of my internet surfing and browsing. The only problem I have about cybercafés is that the connectivity is usually very slow and sometimes their computers have viruses.”
AbduHakeem AbdulRazak also does not see the cybercafé business as dying. Although his phone has internet facility, he said, it has not been configured. “As such, I have to make use of the cybercafé. The phone is so small and I have to strain my eyes to do most of these things. So I just decided that it will pay me more to use the internet on a computer.”
But for Ichoku Mary and Abdulazeez Ibrahim Afolabi, they do not go to cbercafés as they use to since they have their BlackBerry phones and laptops. “With most phones having internet facility, and mobile phone companies offering good deals on modems, most of the cybercafes are experiencing low patronage,” said Afolabi. “Plus many are apprehensive that cybercafés would regain a chance of being relevant in this modern world of information development technology,” Mary concluded.
Articles
Cybercafé biz down, but not out
Category: Business Written by Amarachukwu Ogbu & Amarachi Duruanyim Hits: 453
The internet became a reality in Nigeria in the late 1990s. Today, Nigeria with more than 400 internet service providers compared to just 11 in 2000, is the largest user of the internet in Africa. Internet use is becoming increasingly popular in Nigerian cities thus necessitating the spread of commercial cyber cafes nationwide. However, with the emergence of gadgets like BlackBerry, smartphones and modems for laptop PCs, cybercafés seem to be fast-losing their relevance in the society. With their business seemingly dwindling, Weekly Trust went round some of the cafes and they had this to say. Chidi God’sTime, a cybercafé operator with S&E Communication, Utako, said he started the business about three months ago and the market has been moving well since. He said though the influx of internet facility phones had slowed down most activities of cybercafés, “For now, you could say that people enjoy browsing through the internet at home or at their offices but the truth is that it is not everything you will do with your phone. When you really want to do good research work, you look for a café and do your work so the BlackBerry has not affected the business much. Again, the speed at which one browses at the cybercafé is faster compared to that of the phone.”When asked if he operated the cybercafé along with any other business, he replied: “Yes thankfully, when I started I did not just focus on surfing the net. But I included the business centre aspect as well so even if the café is not moving well, the business center is still there and thriving well. People still come to do their paper work like typing, binding and printing of documents so it is not all lost. The café business might be slow and dwindling but projects by students and public servants go on. So it is still a win-win affair for me,’’ he said, smiling.
Similarly, Chukwuma Okoro, another cybercafé operator in Kubwa said that the invasion of BlackBerry and other HTC phones cannot overtake the cybercafé no matter how widespread the use of BlackBerry has become in our world today. This is because cybercafés are more vast and comprehensive in data storage and data references than the BB. For now, yes you could say that people want to join the craze for BlackBerry, Nokia, and HTC phones but it all boils down to one thing; how many people can afford it? Even the modems they are talking about sometimes the band width are overcrowded and it becomes slow. So at the end of the day, they still fall back on the services of the cybercafé. Okoro supports his business by selling snacks and drinks.
Mr. Olaseni Kayode of `Kems Information Technology, Kubwa, said that phones do not affect cybercafé business because what a lot of Nigerians normally do with their phones is chatting and browsing on Facebook. “You cannot do any serious work through the phone. For instance, if you want to scan and send you CV, you cannot do that through the phone and when you really need to source good information, you basically have to go to the cybercafé.”
However, the manager at IK’s Communication, Maitama, agrees that the introduction of BlackBerry and other internet facilities today has left cafés to low patronage. “For instance, you can see in our price list, we started with N120 per hour but now we are collecting N80 per hour. You can see business is not moving well at all, but we will always be here, keeping our fingers crossed. The patronage is low but we are still relevant in one way or the other. Many of the cybercafé operators now combine it with computer classes, selling of recharge cards and soft drinks,” he stated.
Dekpo Moheye is one that still helps keep the cybercafé business moving. Because his phone does not have internet facilities, he therefore patronizes cybercafés. “Most of the phones with internet facilities are really very expensive and so I have no choice than to resort to the cyber cafes for most of my internet surfing and browsing. The only problem I have about cybercafés is that the connectivity is usually very slow and sometimes their computers have viruses.”
AbduHakeem AbdulRazak also does not see the cybercafé business as dying. Although his phone has internet facility, he said, it has not been configured. “As such, I have to make use of the cybercafé. The phone is so small and I have to strain my eyes to do most of these things. So I just decided that it will pay me more to use the internet on a computer.”
But for Ichoku Mary and Abdulazeez Ibrahim Afolabi, they do not go to cbercafés as they use to since they have their BlackBerry phones and laptops. “With most phones having internet facility, and mobile phone companies offering good deals on modems, most of the cybercafes are experiencing low patronage,” said Afolabi. “Plus many are apprehensive that cybercafés would regain a chance of being relevant in this modern world of information development technology,” Mary concluded.