from OKORO CHINEDU in Lagos, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
LAGOS, (CAJ News) – THE constant reduction in the number of active mobile lines in Nigeria is attributed to a directive by authorities to network operators to deactivate lines that remain inactive for six months.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) issued the latest directive in July, which culminated in the active lines decreasing slightly by almost 140 000 month-on-month to about 221 million in August 2023.
“Although the monthly reduction was relatively modest compared to declines recorded in previous months, it appears that active mobile lines have resumed its recent declining trend,” said Tunde Abidoye, Equity Research Analyst at FBN Capital.
NCC often adopts such restrictions as a measure of fighting fraud and terror in Africa’s largest nation, with an estimated population of 225 million.
Apparently, MTN Nigeria was worst impacted by the losses in subscriber base.
Despite the drop, it retained its market dominance, with a market share of 38,6 percent (85 million subscribers) as at the end of August.
Airtel Nigeria had the largest subscriber gain with a net subscriber addition of over 85 000 to 60,2 million. As a result, its market share increased to 27,3 percent.
Globacom and 9mobile also registered modest net subscriber gains of 38 000 and 36 000, taking their customer base to 61,4 million and 13,8 million, respectively.
The latest national account also shows that the information and communications sector achieved a robust growth of 8,6 percent in the second quarter of 2023, down from 10,3 percent the previous quarter.
Abidoye noted the impressive gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates delivered by the sector have mostly been driven by the telecommunications sub-sector.
“Notably, the information and communications sector has shown consistent growth over the past 22 quarters, the longest stretch of growth trend among all the activity sectors,” the analyst said.
– CAJ News