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Users Expect Improved Services As Smile Unveils Best In Class USB Hotspot, Dongle Smifi And Router DevicesBy Braxton Ilobah
Telecom service users would soon expect the best as Smile Communications, untiring in its quest to continuously innovate and frequently fete its customers with avant-garde products, is once again, poised to release another range of innovative 4G LTE access devices into the Nigeria market.
SECURITY REPORTERS gathered that these best-in-class products are the new USB Wi-Fi Hotspot Dongle, the SMiFi with LCD Colour Screen displaying the customer’s Smile Number and SIM Serial numbers as well as a Smile Router with multiple LAN ports.
The USB Hotspot Dongle, which is Lightweight, Portable, and Powerful, is Wi-Fi enabled and has a Micro-SD card slot. This Plug-and-Play device, when inserted into a device with a USB port, including a TV, car, power bank, phone charger, and more, gives you high-quality internet access. Share your internet access with up to ten concurrent connections from other devices, and insert a mini-SD card to use the dongle as a storage device.
An added advantage is that no power cable is needed as the dongle gets its power from the device it is plugged into.
The new USB Hotspot Dongle from Smile is popular with young professionals, students, and people who are always on the move with their laptops and power banks.
People who spend a lot of time in their cars can insert the dongle into the USB port in their vehicle, creating a Wi-Fi hotspot that all the passengers can connect to for access to online entertainment to enjoy the ride and to stay productive.
The second offering, the SMiFi device with an LCD coloured screen, displays a customer’s SmileNumber and account details to make it easy for customers to recharge and manage their Smile internet service. The network access status is also clearly visible on the LCD screen.
The SMiFi device comes with a customised ring and strap to make it easy to carry. The SMiFi device is excellent to use while on the move; therefore, a custom-made ring and strap are included to reduce possible device damage when taking the device with you. Customers can also easily view data usage and the number of devices connected to the SMiFi, on the LCD screen of the device.
The SmileNumber display, custom-made ring and strap, data usage, and connected devices display are all new features currently only available on Smile’s SMiFi device. These “Smile Firsts” are coherent with the company’s foundational philosophy of creating innovations that outperform the existing benchmark in the Nigerian market.
The SmileRouter is Smile’s third offering and has 4 LAN Ports that can connect to a Television, Laptop, and two other devices.
In an official statement Abdul Hafeez, Chief Marketing Officer, Smile Nigeria, affirmed that with the new devices, the usage and connections to the SMiFi device can be tracked, recorded, and monitored. And security-wise, these new devices offer secured and customised access, which requires the correct password to be accessed.
He reiterated that these new Smile 4G LTE devices are affordable and offer flexibility and varied use for an unparalleled internet experience, from the Wi-Fi-enable USB Hotspot Dongle to the SMiFi and Router.
Hafeez further disclosed that the minimum battery capacity of the SMiFi and Router devices is 3000mah, which provides up to 5 hours of usage.
To Simeon Ebuka, a Stockist at the Computer Village, Ikeja, these latest devices are pathfinding and offer even “More Firsts from Smile”. To many ICT buffs and device aficionados, Smile’s unending innovative streak has seen the company launch many first, including offering the first 4G LTE network in 2014 in West Africa, Nigeria, in Ibadan.
Innovative as they come, Smile was also the first to launch Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) in 2016 to enable consumers to benefit from superior quality voice, video, and data services on a single device and a single data plan.
Smile is a pan-African telecommunications group with operations in Nigeria (Smile Communications Nigeria), Tanzania (Smile Communications Tanzania), Uganda (Smile Communications Uganda), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Smile Communications DRC).
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