Owing to the directives issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) to Telecom Operators for mandatory National Identification Number (NIN) and SIM linkage; the number of subscribers declined drastically. The decline started in 2023, and continued beyond mid 2024.
Available data in October 2024, shows a significant surge in mobile subscription to the tune of 157.3 million. This positive data in Nigeria’s Telecommunication sector is driven chiefly by growth from MTN and Airtel.
It’s on record that approximately 64.3 million lines were wiped out from the nation’s subscription database between March and September this year. This development is connected to the NIN-SIM linkage exercise and NCC audit exercise. The positive growth in October is an indication of a new dawn from the downtrend occasioned by the exercises mentioned above.
Analysizing the 4 Major Telecom Operators in Nigeria
The Country’s telecom giant MTN led the uptrend with a staggering 2.2 million additional subscription in October. Nigeria’s largest operator, MTN retains it’s dominance with a %51.09 market share; that is, a total active subscription of 80.3 million.
Airtel trailed MTN with 697,430 new subscriptions making a total of 54.4 million. They now have %31.61 of the total subscribers in Nigeria, making the company the second-largest operator in the Country.
Globacom still witnessed 44,635 declined in subscription in October, inaddition to the sizeable lost the company recorded earlier this year. Globacom active users in October is 19.1 million which represents %12.15 of the market.
Just like Globacom, 9mobile is still on a downtrend. 9mobile lost 245,263 subscriptions and it’s now left with 3.3 million active subscriptions representing just %2.15 of the market.
What the Development means for the Country’s Teledensity
Teledensity which simply is the number of telephone connections per 100 people in a given area. It is correlated with the per capita GDP of an area. Governments in some economies are focused on increasing teledensity as an economic enabler.
Recall that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) adjusted the teledensity in November 2023 to reflect population growth figures and align with international best practices. This resulted in a drop in the country’s teledensity from 115.63% in August 2023 to 102.97% in November 2023. The drop continued till mid 2024.
Conclusion
The laudable growth spearheaded by MTN and Airtel showcases the tenacity of Nigeria’s telecom sector amidst regulatory challenges. Thus, analysts have suggested that the recovery could continue to gather momentum in the coming months as operators adapt to new regulations and leverage technological advancements, incentives, and innovations to attract and retain subscribers.