from OKORO CHINEDU in Lagos, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
LAGOS, (CAJ News) – NIGERIA’S mobile lines and internet connections have increased marginally as of the end of July.
The growth has been 1,2 percent month-on-month and 0,7 percent m/m to 209 million and 152 million respectively.
These figures imply mobile phone penetration rate and internet penetration rate of 104,5 percent and 76 percent respectively.
FBN Quest, the market watcher, noted the communications sector is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy and its data series is one of the very few available indicators of consumption patterns.
It quoted data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The latest national accounts for the second quarter of 2022 show that the telecommunication sub-sector, which accounts for over 80 percent of the ICT sector’s GDP, grew by 7,7 percent and contributed around 15 percent of total GDP.
In terms of market share dynamics, MTN Nigeria (MTNN), the nation’s largest network operator, recorded net subscriber additions of 0,39 million subscribers, taking its total subscriber base to 79,4 million.
The major beneficiary was Globacom (Glo), which registered a market share gain of 68 basis points, taking its share of mobile lines to 28 percent on the back of net subscriber additions of 2,1 million.
Net subscriber additions for Airtel Nigeria (Airtel) was 0,09 million.
Regardless, the company’s market share dropped by 30 basis points to 27,9 percent due to the strong market share gains by Glo.
9Mobile’s market share declined by 10 points to 6 percent due to a net subscriber loss of 0,064 million.
“Despite upward pressure on opex arising from inflation cost increases and a weaker outlook for the naira exchange rate, we still consider this sector to be one of the brightest in our coverage universe,” FBN Quest stated.
– CAJ News