When I first arrived in Cameroon and I was living with a host family, all family members had a phone that could only make and receive calls and send and receive texts.  When I revisited them one year later, every one of them had a smartphone.  My host father had joined Facebook.  They were all using Whatsapp.  The internet has really come a long way since I have arrived in this country.

Regular readers may recall that I really struggled to get internet access when I first arrived in the country.  My options were limited.  Only one phone company offered 3G speed, Nexttel.  Other companies which include Orange, MTN and Camtel offered only DSL speed or slower.  I could choose a plan with 3G speed but with limited data for a very expensive price or a plan with 100 hours of internet a month at a reasonable price but with very slow speed that was close to dial up.  It was so slow that I couldn’t download files and load many of the pictures online.  I often had to wait at least a minute or two for a page to load.   I used the 100 hours a month plan from Camtel for the most of my first year in Cameroon.  Then about six months ago, the one internet company that was once the only company offering 3G speed, Nexttel, dropped their price by half.  I purchased their plan but used it only when Facetiming with family and friends as the price was still relatively high for limited amount of data.  I still used the 100 hours a month plan at other times.  All three other phone companies rolled out plans with 3G speed.  Then about four months ago, Nexttel began to offer a plan with unlimited 2G speed at a price that is cheaper than the 100 hours a month plan from Camtel.  Since then, I have only been using the unlimited 2G speed plan.  I am also able to purchase credit for certain amount of data for 3G speed when I want to use Facetime or watch a video.

This past month, two phone companies, Orange and MTN, just rolled out 4G network.  I hope this means that eventually a plan with unlimited 3G data will be rolled out soon.  I have noticed over the past couple months that more and more Cameroonians have a smartphone since the price of internet has become more affordable.  My counterpart purchased a smartphone for the first time a few months ago and has been using Facebook more frequently.  I will be interested to see how the internet continues to improve and transform the country in the next nine months (I finish my service in October or November.)