Here's why your Netflix may not chill just yet

folarin okunola

January 7, 2016 3:21 PM

I understand all the excitement following Netflix’s announcement at CES2016 that the service would now be available in about 130 additional countries, including Nigeria

You may have to hold off on the 'chill' part if you don't want to enter 'gbese'

Yes, Netflix will now be available in Nigeria. We can actually say ‘Netflix and chill’ and actually do just that. Or could you?

I understand all the excitement following Netflix’s announcement at CES2016 that the service would now be available in about 130 additional countries, including Nigeria. But let’s look at the reality of that.

A Netflix subscription itself would cost $8 which is roughly N2500 give or take a few hundred naira. That’s not a problem. Some of us already spend triple that amount on data every other month anyways. So what is the issue?

Well, data is still very expensive in Nigeria – an unlimited plan would be ideal since Netflix is an Internet-based service and that would set you back some many tens of thousands of Naira.

READ: Video on-demand service announces availability in Nigeria

To put this in perspective, TechCabal estimates that, at the highest quality setting, Netflix can consume as much as 3-7GB PER HOUR. The cheapest data plan I can think of right now is Spectranet’s 55GB Night and Weekend offering which costs N9,500 and that’s not going to cut it.

Also, Etisalat is offering a Netflix plan that will cost N75,000 a month. I don’t know about you but that is sounding a lot like ‘Netflix and Broke’ to me.

Even the most conservative user will probably not last beyond a week even with 55GB of Spectranet power at their disposal and that’s even putting mildly especially when you consider how addictive Netflix content can be.

So while Netflix being available in Nigeria is good, it may not be wholly so. In other words, your Netflix may not chill just yet.

folarin okunola