- The Nigeria Communications Commission says Nigeria’s mobile subscription hit 157.3 million in October
- The 2.69 million subscription growth was driven by an increase in the subscriber base of MTN and Airtel
- Mobile internet subscription and broadband penetration also increased
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says Nigeria’s mobile subscriptions increased to 157.3 million in October 2024 from 154.6 million in September.
According to the NCC, the country’s mobile subscriptions grew by 2.69 million in one month, driven by an increase in MTN and Airtel's subscriber bases.
The increase follows months of decline due to NCC’s comprehensive audit, which led to the removal of 64.37 million lines from the national subscription base between March and September this year.
The decline was also attributed to the implementation of the Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) and the National Identification Number (NIN) (NIN/SIMs) linkage exercise.
The NCC said the growth in actively connected lines recorded by telecommunication operators impacted the country’s teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living within an area.
It said Nigeria’s teledensity, calculated based on a population estimate of 216 million, rose to 72.7 per cent in October from 71.46 per cent recorded in September.
MTN and Airtel record subscriber base increase
The subscriber base of MTN and Airtel recorded an increase in the month under review.
MTN’s subscription increased by 2.2 million in one month, growing from 78.09 million in September to 80.38 million in October 2024. This means that the telco controls 51.09 per cent of Nigeria’s mobile market.
Airtel came second, gaining 697,430 new subscriptions in October. This pushed its active database to 54.45 million from 53.75 million recorded in September.
Airtel controls 31.61 per cent of the mobile market share.
Glo and 9mobile suffered declines
On the other hand, the subscriber base of Globacom and 9mobile decreased within one month.
Glo’s subscription base declined further by 44,635 in October. It reached 19.11 million from 19.15 million in September. The telco accounts for 12.15 per cent of Nigeria’s mobile market share.
9mobile came a distant fourth as it lost 245,263 subscriptions in October, bringing its database down to 3.39 million. It accounts for 2.15 per cent of the market share.
Mobile internet subscriptions increased
The growth in the subscriber base of telcos pushed the country’s internet usage to an all-time high of 870,398.28 terabytes (TB) as of October 2024, a 28.9 per cent increase from the 675,250.54 TB reported in the same period of 2023.
The figure is a 20,149.19 TB increase from the 850,249.09 TB recorded in September 2024.
Mobile internet subscriptions increased to 134 million in October after falling to 132.41 million in September from 163.89 million in March.
The NCC said mobile (GSM) accounted for 134.27 million subscribers, while the remaining subscribers are classified under fixed wired and VoIP.
Also, broadband penetration grew to 42.24 per cent from 41.56 per cent in September.
The NCC added that in terms of generation, 5G, 4G, and 3G usage rose by 2.33 percent, 46.27 percent, and 9.40 percent, respectively.
NCC to limit tariff plans to 7 in new structure for telecom operators
Meanwhile, TheRadar reported that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said telecommunication operators are limited to a maximum of seven tariff plans in the new structure it unveiled on December 13.
The NCC said the new simplified tariff structure for telecommunications operators is vital in streamlining tariff plans, increasing transparency, and improving the consumer experience.
