Nigeria is gradually switching to 4G/LTE (Fourth Generation / Long Term Evolution) and before the end of the second quarter of 2017, most telecommunications operators must have made their 4G presence felt nationwide, just like Globacom has done. This means that one of the smartphone specs Nigerians will be looking for when buying a smartphone shall include 4G capabilities. Many do not know that all 4G LTE are not the same as 4G networks have different bands, meaning a 4G enabled phone or device may work for MTN 4G network but may not work for Glo or Etisalat 4G network. This article is to create awareness so as not to get a smartphone that may end up not working with your 4G LTE network of choice.
When getting a smartphone, you must check the 4G band it supports because smartphones may come in different variants, made for different locations around the world but look exactly alike physically. They may have the same specs but when you look at some minor specs like networks, you may discover some slight differences, this is very popular in Samsung devices, but rarely the case in Tecno and Infinix smartphone devices as they have only one variant.
MTN, GLO, NTEL, SPECTRANET, SWIFT AND SMILE SUPPORTED 4G BAND
• MTN - band 7 (2600MHz) and band 20 (800MHz)
• Glo - band 28 (700MHz)
• Ntel - band 3 (1800MHz) and band 8 (900MHz)
• Spectranet and Swift - band 40 (2300MHz)
• Smile - band 20 (800MHz)
Unfortunately, Glo 4G LTE, that was currently lunched nationwide, uses the 28/700MHz band which is not a common band that is supported by most 4G enabled smartphones commonly used in Nigeria and Africa at large. Examples include Tecno and Infinix devices (they mostly support 4G LTE band 1, 3, 7 and 20).
How To Check If Your Smartphone Supports Your Courier 4G LTE Service
Method 1
• To check if your 4G phone is compatible with glo 4G LTE service, send an SMS using a glo SIM with the word, 4G to 400
• For MTN, send 4G to 131
Method 2
• Before getting any smartphone, go to the website and check the specs which is usually written under networks.
Method 3
• Another way is by going to this website
Enter your device model, country and courier, then tap on search
For example I checked Infinix Zero 3, which is 4G enabled
Test Result for Glo 4G LTE
 |
| result shows that Glo 4G LTE will not work on Infinix Zero 3 which is 4G enabled |
Test Result for MTN 4G LLTE
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| result shows that MTN 4G LTE will work on Infinix Zero 3 which is 4G enabled |
Test Result for Ntel 4G LTE
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| result shows that Ntel 4G LTE will work on Infinix Zero 3 which is 4G enabled but do not support 2G and 3G Networks |
Best 4G LTE Networks in Nigeria
The best 4G LTE network in Nigeria as at the time of writing this post is definitely MTN and Ntel. Why do I say so? Its simple, MTN has both the 2600MHz band which is good for urban cities and can deal with loads of people connecting at once, and also the lower 800MHz band which travels at a faster speed over long distances, has higher penetrating rate and its ideal for less populated areas.
The 1800MHz band used by Ntel strikes a balance between coverage and capacity (falling between the extremes of the 2.6GHz and 800MHz bands) which makes it a good 'middle-ground' for getting 4G around the country.
