Nigeria telcos gained 2.9m new telephone subscribers in May- NCC report

According to the most recent industry statistics issued by Nigeria’s telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the number of telephone line owners in Nigeria increased by 1.4% in May 2022. The data reveals that there were 201, 312, 035 mobile subscribers in April and 204, 214, 647 in May.

In the same period, the teledensity (telephone connections per 100 people) increased from 105.65% in April to 107.17% in May.

According to the data from the NCC, telecom providers recorded significant gains in the number of subscribers, signalling the growth of the total market share from 201,312,035 in April to 204,214,607 in May.

MTN maintained its dominance over the mobile subscriber market with a 38.06 % market share, beating out Airtel, which finished in second place with 28.22 %. Globacom came third with 56,226,479 while 9mobile was last with 12, 657, 479.

Related also: Telecoms’ contributions to GDP grow by 2.5% in 2 years – Report

What this means

The report represents a consistent adoption and penetration of broadband networks to the populace, and the industry trends are relatively stable in this past year. We earlier reported that the sector’s contribution to the Nigerian economy rose consistently in the years 2019-2022.

The report also established the continuous strength, performance and growth trend of the telecommunications sector as one of the sectors in Nigeria that has shown no sign of slowdown or downturn despite harsh economic situations.

A breakdown of the NCC data shows that MTN Nigeria maintains its leading role as the telecoms service provider with the greater portion of subscribers to the telephone networks in the country. This further proves MTN’s position as one of the top brands in Africa. The company earlier emerged as the top African brand in the continent, displacing the Dangote Group.

Key takeaways

• The number of telephone users increased in May by 1.44%
• GSM subscription in the country also went up from 201,312,036 to 204,214,647
• The Teledensity of telephone users also saw growth from 105.65% in April to 107.17 in May
• Internet subscription witnessed a rise from 147,448,922 to 149,781,122

In sum

The industry continues to show progress and growth in terms of subscription and telephone users in the country. More access to telephony network are penetrating every corner of the country, signifying that the country might be ready for the 5G broadband operation in the country.

The telcos have done a great deal in growing their subscribers over the years. As of 2001, only about 400,000 Nigerians had telephone lines from the defunct Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL). But, with the privatisation of the ecosystem, Nigeria has about 208 million active lines in about 20 years.