Phone subscribers notch 204m, up from 201m
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
MTN and Airtel had the most gains in May as active mobile subscribers on the major networks rose to 204.2 million. Glo also saw new customers, but 9mobile lost, according to the latest figures of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The three telecom networks added 2.9 million subscribers in May, which raised the database from 201.3 million in April.
This is the highest monthly gain for the operators since the lifting of the ban on new SIM registration by the government in April 2021.
Teledensity – which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living in an area – grew from 105.65 per cent in April to 107.17 per cent in May.
The NCC says it calculates teledensity based on Nigeria’s population estimate of 190 million.
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MTN maintains lead
NCC data shows that MTN, the largest operator by subscriber number, gained 1.5 million new subscriptions in May and raised its total active customer database to 77.7 million from 76.2 million in April.
Airtel added 1.3 million new subscriptions to retain its position as the second-largest operator with its active customer database rising to 57.6 million in May from 56.2 million in April.
Globacom grew its customers by 86,145 to bring its total to 56.2 million in May from 56.1 million in April.
But 9mobile recorded a loss, as its customer database dipped by 79,845 to 12.6 million.
Nairametrics reports that with a steady increase in mobile subscriptions since the beginning of the year, the operators are regaining lost customers after the government’s SIM registration policy caused them to lose over 20 million subscriptions between December 2020 and April 2021.
Telcos gain and lose in service quality competition
MTN gained 832 new subscribers in April who ported from other networks – Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile – according to NCC data.
MTN also lost 143 subscribers to other networks in a fierce competition for quality service in which Glo gained 112 subscribers and lost 68, Airtel attracted 354, and 9mobile welcomed 131 customers through porting.
The NCC defines outward porting as “the number of numbers ported to another service provider’s network from a service provider’s own network.”
9mobile was the biggest loser in April as 888 subscribers ported out of its network while Airtel recorded 249 outgoing porting.
Swapping was done through the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) created by the regulator which allows customers to change their service providers without changing their number.