How Telecom Firms Gained 9 Million Internet Subscribers In Five Months

By Toluope Oke

According to the latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), telecommunication firms in Nigeria added 9 million new internet subscribers in the first five months of the year.

According to the NCC, the telcos’ internet subscribers increased from 141 million in December 2021 to 150 million in May 2022.

Due to the government’s suspension of SIM registration and activation between December 2020 and April 2021, the number of internet subscribers fell by 9% (or around 13 million subscribers) year over year during the period under consideration.

However, the rise seen during this time period persisted as a result of the NCC easing the restriction on new card sales and activation following a temporary suspension of sales to facilitate the National Identification Number (NIN) and SIM connection.

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With 4.3 million additional internet members, MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest operator by subscriber count, retained its leadership position. This brought the company’s overall subscriber base to 63 million.

In the time period under consideration, Airtel passed Globacom to become the second-largest operator in terms of internet subscriptions. The telco increased its user base by 3.8 million, bringing the total number of internet subscribers to 41 million.

Globacom increased its member base by more over 380,000, bringing it to 39.9 million overall. However, 9mobile lost 374,000 internet users throughout.

The number of broadband subscriptions, which include both fixed and mobile broadband connections, increased from 78 million in December 2021 to 83.3 million in May 2022. As a result, the country’s broadband penetration increased from 40.8 percent at the end of last year to 43.6 percent today.