Mobile telephone voice subscribers hit 222m in Q1 2023
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Mobile telephone active voice subscribers increased 13.33 per cent from 199,558,540 in the first quarter of 2022 (Q1 2022) to 226,161,713 in Q1 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The latest NBS data also shows active internet subscribers rose 8.02 per cent from 145,851,496 in Q1 2022 to 157,551,104 in Q1 2023.
Lagos had the highest number of active voice subscribers in Q1 2023 with 26,716,136, followed by Ogun (13,241,205), and Kano (12,567,096).
Ekiti came up with the least (2,040,920), next Ebonyi (1,987,485), and Bayelsa (1,635,020).
Lagos equally had the highest number of active internet subscribers (18,778,744), followed by Ogun (9,352,222), and Kano (8,680,524).
Ekiti had the least (1,474,604), trailed by Ebonyi (1,330,586), and Bayelsa (1,147,672), per reporting by Daily Post.
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Telcos lose N485m as subscriptions slide by 6m
Mobile phone subscriptions decreased by 6.1 million in Q2 2023 as economic hardship forces Nigerians to cut the cost of living by prioritising basic necessities above luxuries.
MTN and Airtel declared a total loss of N485.69 billion revenue, with the subscriber base dropping from 225.82 million in December 2022 (Q4 2022) to 219.77 million in Q2 2023, as shown in data compiled by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
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Mixed fortunes spread across the four major carriers – MTN Nigeria, Airtel Africa, Globacom, and 9mobile.
MTN shed 6.89 million subscribers to reduce its total numbers to 84.66 million, and Airtel (37,828) to close the quarter with 60.19 million.
Both Glo and 9mobile gained subscriptions, with Glo netting 533,582 to reach 61.33 million, and 9mobile adding 437,823 to clinch 13.58 million.
Teledensity, the number of active telephone connections per 100 residents of an area, declined from 118.48 per cent in Q1 2023 to 115.30 per cent in Q2 2023.
Factors contributing to decline
Experts and industry players blame the decline on the impact of economic crisis, naira scarcity, and decline in purchasing power.
“We continued to experience headwinds in our operating environment in the first quarter of 2023,” MTN Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola said of the company’s Q1 2023 report.
“The impacts of the ongoing global macroeconomic and geopolitical developments on energy, food, and general inflation were exacerbated locally by petrol and cash shortages experienced during the period.
“This placed additional pressure on economic activity, consumers, and businesses.”
The NCC raising the minimum age to own a telephone handset from 16 to 18 years also affected the active subscriber base.
“In Q2, we implemented the minimum age requirement for SIM registration from 16 to 18 years, which impacted the run rate of gross connections and active data subscribers in the quarter,” MTN explained in its financials.
MTN and Airtel disclosed in their second quarter/half-year reports they lost a combined N485.69 billion to the fall in naira value.
They said the steep devaluation of naira following the attempt by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to close the gap between the official and parallel rates also negatively impacted their businesses.
Naira value has taken a beating since the CBN directed banks to remove the rate cap on the currency at the official Investors’ and Exporters’ (I&E) Window of the foreign exchange (forex) market.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria wishes to inform all authorised dealers and the general public of the following immediate changes to operations in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market: Abolishment of segmentation. All segments are now collapsed into the Investors and Exporters Window,” the CBN said.
This was to allow for a free float of naira against the dollar and other global currencies.