Active subscriptions for telecommunication services on MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9mobile mobile networks increased to 218.6 million in November 2022.

This is according to the latest industry data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The data shows that the increase was largely driven by MTN, which posted the biggest gain of 3.1 million subscriptions in the month.

In total, the 4 GSM operators recorded a combined 4.2 million increase in subscriptions in November, as the country’s active mobile subscriptions database stood at 214.3 million in October.

Teledensity Growth: With the growth registered by the operators, the country’s teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living in an area, also jumped from 112.47% in October to 114.07% in November 2022. According to NCC, teledensity is calculated based on an estimated population of 190 million.

Source: CNC

How the telcos fared: NCC statistics show that MTN, which is the largest operator by number of subscribers, gained 3.1 million new subscriptions in November. This brought its total database of active clients to 86.4 million from the 83.2 million it registered in October.

  • Airtel added 713,865 new subscriptions in the month under review, but the gain was not enough to displace Glo from second place in terms of number of subscriptions. The telco’s active customer database increased to 59.3 million at the end of November from 58.6 million in October.
  • Glo also posted an increase of 312,274 subscriptions in the month to maintain its position as the second largest operator. The new network activations brought Glo’s total subscriptions to 59.9 million from 59.6 million in October.
  • In November, 9mobile broke its losing streak by gaining new subscriptions for the first time in several months. The company’s subscription database increased by 69,812 to 12.8 in the month under review.