By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria’s four major mobile telephone operators lost over eight million data subscribers in three months from March to May for reasons including NIN-SIM card ban, poor service, pricing, and competition from smaller but faster competitors.
MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile lost a total 1.27 million data subscribers in May, compared with 3.17 million in April, and 3.55 million in March, as gleaned from Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) data.
Their total subscribers dropped from 141.41 million in April to 140.13 million in May, in a persistent slide since Abuja began palaver over the linkage of National Identity Number (NIN) with telephone numbers.
That coupled with competition from smaller but faster and more reliable data players such as Spectranet, Swift, and Smile, per reporting by Nairametrics.
Airtel
Airtel lost 2.84 million data subscribers, dropping from 38,956,026 in March to 36,120,443 in May.
It had 51.43 million subscribers in March, which dropped to 50.03 million in May.
MTN
MTN lost 2.64 million data subscribers between March and May.
The market leader had 60,202,402 in May, down from 61,575,323 in March and 62,843,182 in February.
It lost a total 3.3 million or 4.27 per cent in the three months
In May, MTN had 74,044,687 subscribers, 39.7 per cent of the national market.
Globacom
Glo lost 2.112 million data subscribers between March and May.
9mobile
9mobile lost 415,905 data subscribers in the same period.
An expert’s view
A telecom expert, Olugbenga Akintunde, told Nairametrics that the decline could be attributed to a number of factors, including pricing, service quality, and the presence of alternative Internet Service Providers (ISP).
Said he: “The decline in the number of data subscribers was caused largely by the high cost of internet in the country and the persistent poor quality of services rendered by the mobile firms.
“We should not be ignorant of the presence of other ISPs like Smile, Spectranet, among others, who at times provide better services for their subscribers compared to their GSM counterparts.”
11.8m data subscribers lost to NIN-SIM ban
Nairametrics reported that the four big carriers lost over 3.55 million data subscribers in March alone.
Their total numbers dropped from 148,133,233 in February to 144,581,026 in March because of the suspension of SIM card sales and registration as Nigerians grappled with the stress of obtaining their NINs.
The four carriers have lost more than 11.8 million customers since the implementation of NIN-SIM card ban by Abuja in December 2020.
