This may be an incorrect generalization, but I thought I read that in much of Africa, people do not really use fixed ISPs. They just use the cell phone infrastructure for their internet needs via their phones. I understand this is because cell phone infrastructure is a lot cheaper to roll out and also that there was less desktop computers, etc to plug into ethernet cables.
So this article seems to be comparing against something that isn't very popular in the first place - fixed ISPs.
It's cheaper, at least where I live in Central Africa.
You can pay as your budget allows — per day, per hour, night bundles, or even smaller data packages like 150MB.
Public Wi-Fi isn’t common in places like malls, gyms, schools, offices, or hospitals here. However, mobile data ensures you stay connected on your cellphone.
I've switched between three ISPs in the past three months, all of which have been disappointing, mainly due to poor customer service. With cellular data, I can easily top up using mobile money whenever my data runs out.
I also use my phone’s hotspot to connect my PCs at home or on the go.
There are lots of lazy software 'engineers' in wealthy western nations who just assume everyone, everywhere has unlimited 5G or gigabit fibre, and that the size of their 150MB React monstrosity or the 300 API calls it makes when you click a button don't matter.
I always assumed it's largely a SV thing. The rest needs to pay for infrastructure out of pocket and 150MB transferred to any new visitor quickly piles up.
It's an exaggeration 10x but yeah MBs is not unheard of
edit: it's funny there was this cool sports car demo with scrolling animations and if you looked at the code, it loaded like a 1000 images to do the animation
I think if you open the Network Inspector more often, you'll find that you weren't actually exaggerating at all.
Resource utilization has basically zero headspace for many developers now, and even less among non-technical stakeholders (who fundamentally rely on engineers to bring it to their attention).
That is technically correct, but we also pay for the data through the nose. I use two mobile providers here in Tanzania. From one I got a dedicated data SIM card, where I pay 1000TZS (40ct) per GB (the normal price listed on the website is double, but for some reason there is always a 100% bonus included). The other is a regular SIM card where data costs 2000TZS (80ct) per GB (occasionally they offer a bonus where i get an extra 1.5GB for the same price). In Uganda earlier I paid $8 for a 12GB package.
If you need a lot of data then a wired connection is a lot cheaper. If you can get it, that is. Fiber is only available in large cities. And even there, only in areas with enough demand to make it worth putting in the cable.
So this article seems to be comparing against something that isn't very popular in the first place - fixed ISPs.