The default call plan of any new sim card is airtel smart connect and the best thing about it is the call and date bonuses that accompanied it.

What I meant by the default plan is that it is the tariff all-new airtel sim cards are automatically on after successful registration and activation.

One thing I find annoying is that when you call airtel numbers, I would have expected them to deduct from the bonus account for airtel to airtel but they deduct first from the main account and then from the bonus account (for airtel to other networks).

What is now the point of the bonus account if I have to exhaust the main account first before I can use it.

Benefits of Airtel Smart Connect

Double Data Bonus: You will get a 100% bonus on all data you buy for 3 months after your sim become active. It only applies to plans above 100 Naira and below 4000 Naira.
8X Recharge Bonus: You will get an 800% bonus on every top-up you do. Your recharge value will be in your main account, 300% in your bonus account (150% to call all networks and 150% to call only airtel numbers), and 400% in your data account.

All recharge bonuses are valid for 7 days.

How to Migrate to Airtel Smart Connect

Buy a new sim, register, and activate it to enjoy the offers on the Smart Connect call plan. Old sims can not be migrated to Smart Connect and the new sim that migrated out of it won’t be able to go back to it.

Airtel Smart Connect Call Rate

Main Account: 25.6 kobo per second to all networks
Bonus Account: 75 kobo per second to all local networks in Nigeria.

Let’s do some Talktime calculations to see how long it will last to use a recharge value of 100 Naira up to 1000 Naira.

But before we do that, let’s first convert the rate from kobo per second to Naira per minute.

25.6 kobo – 1 second
X – 60 seconds

X = 1536 kobo per minute

1 Naira – 100 kobo
X – 1536 kobo

X = 1536 / 100 = 15.36 Naira per minute.

Likewise

75 kobo – 1 second
X – 60 seconds

X = 4500 kobo per minute

1 Naira – 100 kobo
X – 4500 kobo

X = 4500 / 100 = 45 Naira per minute.

Airtel Smart Connect Talk Time

Remember that the main account is your exact recharge value, the bonus airtime account is 300% (150% to call all networks and 150% to call only airtel) and 400% for the data bonus account.

100 Naira Airtime

Main Account: 100 / 15.36 = 6.51 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to Airtel): 150 / 45 = 3.33 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to other Networks): 150 / 45 = 3.33 minutes

Total Talktime = 9 minutes 50 seconds to call all networks and 13 minutes 10 seconds to call airtel numbers only.

200 Naira Airtime Recharge

Main Account: 200 / 15.36 = 13.02 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to Airtel): 300 / 45 = 6.67 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to other Networks): 300 / 45 = 6.67 minutes

Total Talktime = 19 minutes 41 seconds to call all networks and 26 minutes 21 seconds to call only airtel numbers.

300 Naira Recharge

Main Account: 300 / 15.36 = 19.53 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to Airtel): 450 / 45 = 10 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to other Networks): 450 / 45 = 10 minutes

Total Talktime = 29 minutes 32 seconds to call all networks and 39 minutes 32 seconds to call airtel numbers only.

500 Naira Airtime

Main Account: 500 / 15.36 = 32.55 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to Airtel): 750 / 45 = 16.67 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to other Networks): 750 / 45 = 16.67 minutes

Total Talktime = 49 minutes 13 seconds to call all networks and 65 minutes 53 seconds to call only airtel numbers

1000 Naira Airtime

Main Account: 1000 / 15.36 = 65.10 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to Airtel): 1500 / 45 = 33.33 minutes
Bonus Account (Airtel to other Networks): 1500 / 45 = 33.33 minutes

Total Talktime = 98 minutes 26 seconds to call all networks and 131 minutes 45 seconds to call airtel numbers only.

Final Thought

As you can see, the 8X recharge bonus doesn’t mean much for calls to all other networks except the airtel network after the Talktime calculation.

But remember, you will also be getting a 100% data bonus for 3 months after your number became active.

So, if you make a lot of calls to other networks, you can migrate out of airtel smart connect after the 3 months to other plans with better talktime such as Airtel smart talk and smart trybe. I have written extensively about them, you should check them out.