Active mobile phone subscriptions dip in fourth straight month
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Actively mobile phone lines reduced 0.5 per cent to 219.7 million in June, the fourth consecutive monthly decline this year, according to the latest figures released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The numbers dropped 1 per cent in May, 1 per cent (April), and 0.4 per cent (March).
Total active subscriptions across MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile was 220.9 million in May, meaning the decline in June amounted to 1.2 million, exacerbated by nearly a 1 million plunge in subscriptions to MTN.
Teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 residents of an area, slumped to 115.30 per cent in June from 115.91 per cent in May.
The NCC calculates teledensity based on Nigeria’s population estimate of 190 million.
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Losers and gainers
NCC data shows MTN, the largest operator by subscriber number, pulled down total industry database with a 925,925 decline in its subscriptions in June, which reduced its total active subscribers from 85.6 million in May to 84.6 million in June.
Airtel had a 337,036 decline in subscriber numbers, from 60.5 million in May to 60.2 million in June, per reporting by Nairametrics.
9mobile, the fourth largest mobile operator, also lost 82,234 in June, declining from 13.6 million in May to 13.7 million in June.
However, Glo raised subscriptions by 179,851 in June to solidify its position as the second largest operator by subscriber numbers.
Glo’s total subscriptions rose from 61.1 million in May to 61.3 million in June.
Back story
The decline in active mobile subscriptions is on the backdrop of a recent directive by the NCC to telecom operators to deactivate any line that has not been used for revenue-generating activity for six months.
The directive, contained in a new Quality of Service Business Rules released by the regulator, says the owner of such a line would have another six months to re-activate it, failing which the number will be completely lost.
The initiative is connected with the rising number of inactive lines, as NCC data shows unused or abandoned lines across MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile networks increased to 96.7 million in February.
