The Nigerian telecom industry reached 218.9 million active subscriptions in November across the top four mobile networks, including MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9mobile, compared to 193.2 million in the same period in 2021.
Data seen by BusinessDay shows the increase was led by MTN, which posted 3.1 million, the most active subscribers for telephony services in the month under review.
“Consumers are spending more on data and businesses are also boosting productivity by making maximum use of broadband technology,” said Ajibola Olude, Executive Secretary of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).
“The increase also shows that the Internet of Things and robotics have started to gain momentum in the Nigerian digital space because all this innovation requires sims to perform various functions,” he said.
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With the growth registered by the operators, the country’s teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections for every 100 inhabitants living in an area, also jumped from 112.47 percent in October to 114.07 percent in November 2022. According to NCC, teledensity is calculated based on an estimated population of 190 million.
According to the data, MTN recorded the most subscribers from operators, gaining 3.1 million from 86.4 registered in November 2022 to 83.3 million in October 2022.
Airtel was in second place as its subscribers grew by 713,865 in November, with a total of 59.3 million in November compared to 58.6 million in October 2022.
Glo also posted an increase of 312,274 in active subscribers in the month under review. This brought the total subscription registered in November to 59.9 million compared to 59.6 million registered in October.
However, 9mnobile is not far behind as the company’s active subscribers increased from 12.8 million to 12.7 million in the periods under review.
