Telecoms experts have given insights on why the telecoms subscriber base in Nigeria has kept a steady rise in the face of recession which is currently hobbling data uptake.
A report released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has shown that telecommunications services in Nigeria increased from 155.1 million in January to 154. 1 million in February.
This is as data uptake or internet dandles sign in the period under review dropped across all networks, showing that it was not due to network loyalty or marketing drive.
The report indicated a decrease of 993,063 in the number of telecoms users across the country in January.
In its monthly Subscriber/Operator Data obtained released in Lagos, it said “Active users of telecommunications services in the country increased to 154,120,484 in February this year from 155,113,547 in January”.
Besides, 153,661,547 of the 154,120,484 active numbers subscribed to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network services.
The GSM operators’ active customers decreased by 998,899 of the 154,660,446 subscribers recorded in January.
According to the report, MTN had 61,390,697 users in February which decreased by 858,130 against 62,248,827 recorded in January. Globacom’s figure increased in February by 27,552, giving a total of 37,250,455 customers against 37,223,902 in January.
Airtel had 34,832,181 subscribers in the month under review which increased by 165,416 users against 34,666,765 recorded in January.
Etisalat, however, recorded a drop in customers by 333,738 in February, giving a customer base of 20,188,214 against 20,521,952 users in January.
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators had 217,566 users in February same with the result of January. Between the two surviving CDMA service providers, Visafone had 213,106 customers, while Multi-Links had 4,460 in the month under review.
The Fixed Wireless network (landline) consumers remained at 26,865 in February. NCC’s report said between the two Fixed Wireless, Visafone had 26,437 subscribers as Multi-Links maintained its November record of 428 customers.
The Fixed Wired operators (landline) subscriber base increased by 412, giving a total of 124,635 users in February against 124,223 recorded in January.
On Fixed Wired arena, MTN Fixed moved from having 8,028 in January to 8,564 in February, thereby increasing by 536 users, while Glo Fixed had 12,742 users in February. Glo added 11 customers to the January record of 12,731.
IpNX network moved from 2,477 subscriber base in January to 2,589 in February, increasing its customers by 112. It said that 21st Century network had 100,740 customers in February, recording a decrease of 247 users from its January record of 100,987.
The report shows that the two Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) networks had 89,871 active users in February, as their customers increased by 5,424 from their January subscriber base of 84,447. Of the VOIP networks, Smile Communication had 36,285 customers, giving an increase of 573 users to its January result of 35,712.
Ntel had 53,586 consumers subscribing to its products and services in the month of February, showing an increase of 4,851 user to the January record of 48,735.
