Netflix is bound to fail in Nigeria, and here’s why

Hurray Netflix is now in Nigeria!! Oh yes! subscribe for just $8 monthly and you have full access to all the movies, TV series and shows you love plus so much more. Many have begged and yearned for this service to be usable for Nigerians. Before now, it had geographical restrictions. One had to go into IP masking and VPN’s to be able to use it. Now the chains are broken, it’s a good reason to be joyous, MobilityArena reports.

 

Wait first. Before you go dancing shoki in celebratory mode, a closer look at the situation has given us cause for concern. Many questions arise like: Which (affordable, fast & reliable) data plan will we use for this? What happens to our local content? What about the issue of piracy? These and more we hope to tackle subsequently, so grab a cup of coffee, Netflix Mobility and chill .

The very first problem we have in Nigeria is poor internet services. 3G network is abysmal in many parts of the country. 4G network ah! That one is almost non-existent except for the service offered by Smile, in a few locations around the country. Is that what we would be using for the Netflix? Aside speed; there are also big questions marks in areas of stability and reliability. Remember that the ‘service’ is heavy dependent on fast and reliable internet. The country can’t really boast of that now – so make e rest first.

Another issue with Netflix is the lack of local content. Netflix basically it offers content from the Western world. They don’t offer any local entertainment content.  Supposing it goes mainstream – unless it’s added later, it would probably further reduce the already dying appeal we have for our local content.

Can we even pay for the service? Recently, government of Nigeria placed some international restrictions on Nigerian ATM cards.  With this in place, a willing subscriber to the Netflix service will eventually run into difficulties paying for it. What else could fall in favour of this Netflix.

We haven’t even talked of piracy, torrent downloads, and the Alaba-boys menace in the country. I’ve watched lots of Netflix shows/movies without even spending a dime on them. Popular titles like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Beasts of No Nation were just copied from people laptops, Worst case scenario, one can easily purchase these movies for less than N200. They know where?

Smart TV’s aren’t even popular here yet. We might not have many people with TV’s compatible with streaming, but then, we can even excuse (or rather skip) this by using other device like mobile phones, laptops or tablets to access the service.

From the many factors already going against Netflix, we had better ask them to take it back. The likes of DSTV, GOTV, Startimes, Joy TV, Iroko TV and others have no cause to fear or feel threatened. Until a miracle happens – especially with the internet situation in Nigeria, I see Netflix having more ground to cover before becoming main stream in Nigeria. Do you think Netflix is useless in a place like Nigeria ?

Please post your comment below, lets discuss this matter.