By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Airtel beats MTN with 34 points in broadband coverage and download speed, according to Umlaut, but the two networks, both of which set up shop in Nigeria in 2001, are still way ahead of the competition in Africa’s largest market.
On the downside, both Airtel and MTN join Glo and 9mobile to share the loss of 3.55 million data subscribers in March 2021, based on figures compiled by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Subscribers of the four networks dropped from 148,133,233 in February to 144,581,026 in March because Abuja suspended SIM card sales and registration for people to obtain National Identity Numbers (NINs) to activate telephone lines.
Regardless, Umlaut – a cross-industry firm that offers advisory and fulfilment services to clients worldwide – declared Airtel the ‘Best in Test’ in broadband coverage and download speed after a nationwide assessment
Umlaut Chief Executive Officer of Telecoms, Hakan Ekmen, said Airtel scored 697 points in broadband coverage and user download speed, MTN came second (663 points), 9mobile third (591 points) and Glo fourth (486 points).
The tests were carried out with crowdsourcing methodology, which was used to evaluate the mobile networks.
An analysis showed that 263,000 users contributed 707.4-million samples in 24 weeks from October 2020 until early April 2021, Ekmen explained, per reporting by Nairametrics.
Said he: “In our nationwide assessment, 82.8 per cent of the urban build-up area and 83.9 per cent of the population area were tested. We concluded that Airtel Nigeria is Best in Test, achieving the highest umlaut score with 697 points.
“Airtel achieved the best-rated broadband coverage and user download speed. This is remarkable in one of the largest telecommunications communities on the African continent, a positive step towards Digital Equality.”
Ekmen disclosed that Umlaut’s “sophisticated methodology” makes the results comparable across network operators globally, and the transparency boosts network quality and performance as well as improves experience for every customer.
The results in Nigeria are quite impressive, he stressed, but “there is still room for improvement in global comparison,” even though “competition in Nigeria’s telecoms landscape is working favourably for consumers.”
MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile lose 3.5m data subscribers
Between February and March 2021, per Nairametrics reporting, MTN lost 1.27 million data subscribers and at the end of March had 61.57 million, down from 62.84 million in February.
Between December 2020 and February 2021, it lost 4.67 million subscribers, a 5.7 per cent reduction.
In February 2021, MTN had 77.35 million mobile data subscribers, accounting for 39.5 per cent of total subscribers.
Airtel lost 1.17 million between February and March, having dropped from 38,956,026 to 37,778,569.
Airtel had 57.23 million in November 2020, which dropped to 51.43 million in February 2021.
Globacom lost 892,821 mobile data subscribers and 9mobile 214,070.
The four networks have lost a total 11.8 million customers since the SIM card ban in December 2020.
According to Nairametrics, historic data shows that the networks recorded an average 2.32 million new subscribers each month for the first 10 months of 2020.
Assuming the same rate at a selling price of N100 per new SIM card, the networks lost about N1.1 billion in SIM card sales between December 2020 and April 2021.