NCC Stats: Internet Subscribers in Nigeria Exceeds 146M in July as Broadband Penetration Hits 42%

Internet subscribers now 146.73 million.

All 4 major mobile operators gained subscribers.

Airtel overtakes Globacom in market share

Internet subscribers in Nigeria have risen to about 146.73 million and broadband penetration has hit 42% in the month of July.

According to the industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), mobile operators in the country added a total of 3.5 million subscribers during the month.

MTN is the Highest gainer

All 4 major mobile operators reported an increase in internet subscribers in July. MTN remains king, adding the highest number of subscribers. The telco added 1.68 million bring its total number of subscribers to 62.29 million.

Airtel comes in second, adding 1.48 million internet subscribers to overtake Globacom. Airtel now has 39.05 million as against Globacoms 38.25 million gathered after adding 285,011 subscribers during the month.

9mobile bounced back in July, breaking the downward trajectory it has been on since the beginning of the year. The telco added 43,266 subscribers, bringing its total internet subscribers to 7.09 million.

The new NCC stats has adjusted the numbers of previous months to show that Visafone has no subscribers as opposed to the initial report of 88,818 internet subscribers it reported.

Nigeria close to 200 million active Subscribers

The total number of GSM subscribers stood at 198,96 million in July, indicating an increase of about 3.05 million from the number of subscribers recorded in the previous month.

Market leader, MTN extended its lead at the top, adding 1.59 million active mobile subscribers. The telco now has a market share of 40.39% (80.35 million subscribers) in Nigeria.

Airtel and Globacom follow with market shares of 26.99% (53.70 million subscribers) and 26.51% (52.74 million subscribers) after adding 1.24 million and 167.8 thousand mobile subscribers respectively.

9mobile takes up the rear adding just 51,600 subscribers during the month to bring its total market share to 6.11% (12.16 million subscribers). Similar to internet subscribers, Visafone mobile subscribers were missen from the report.

Over 19,400 porters

Airtel overtook 9mobile as the most favourable network for porters as 10,078 users joined the network from other operators. In comparison, 9mobile had just 6,242 incoming porters. MTN added 2,840 incoming subscribers while Globacom is the least after receiving just 308 porters.

On the outgoing end, Globacom led the chart as 6,283 subscribers ported from the mobile operator. Airtel follows with 5,167 subscribers lost while MTN also lost 4,476 subscribers. 9mobile was the least with just 3,082 subscribers lost.

Nigeria’s Broadband hits 42%

Broadband penetration in the country rose to 42.02% in July, gaining 0.79% in a month. The number of 3G and 4G subscribers also rose from 78.69 million to 80.21 million during the month.

In summary, the report shows an all-round increase in subscribers and a drop in porting activity in the month of July. It also shows steady growth in broadband penetration since April.