2024

April

when

Nigerian telecommunications companies have lost a combined total of 67.2 million subscriptions between October 2023 and September 2024. This was revealed by the latest industry analysis report by the <a href="https://www.ncc.gov.ng/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nigerian Communications Commission</a> (NCC). 
According to it, total mobile subscriptions stand at 154,904,827. This is down from 222,188,195 recorded in October 2023. This represents an astounding 30 per cent decline in one year. The NCC attributed this to two factors: the first is the NIN-SIM verification. 
The other is the rectification of a discrepancy by one of the telecommunications companies. 
“The removal of Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) that are not linked to verifiable National Identification Numbers (NINs) and the rectification of a major discrepancy by a Mobile Network Operator explain the significant drop in Nigeria’s telecoms subscriber base,” the commission said. 
Recall that the compulsory NIN-SIM linkage exercise began in December 2020 when the government of President Muhammadu Buhari directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN. 
Following public outcry, the government ordered a reconnection of the lines with a deadline for subscribers to link their SIMs to their NIN. 
Since then the Commission has reviewed the deadline quite a number of times. Despite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINs. In mid-2024, the NCC restarted its drive culminating in MTN barring millions of customers. This led to the outbreak of massive protests at the telco’s offices around the country until the NCC ordered the company to reconnect users. 
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Indeed, a look at the numbers showed that subscriptions witnessed a steep decline between April and May 2024 when the numbers dropped from 216,974,742 in April to 172,141,538 in May 2024. In the seven months before, subscriptions ranged between 216,974,742 to 224,713,710. 
Since May 2024, the numbers witnessed a steady decline, eventually down to the 154,904,827 it currently is. 
Yet, on mobile subscriptions, MTN emerged as the undisputable leader in the market, controlling an impressive 78,097,681 representing 50.5 per cent of the total subscriptions. Airtel maintains its second spot with 53,748,688 representing 34.76 per cent of the market. Globacom is third on the log with a subscriber base of 19,152,907 representing 12.39 per cent of the market. 
9Mobile sits at the bottom of the log with 3,635,160 subscribers representing 2.35 per cent of the market. 
<h4 id="nigerias-data-usage-and-data-subscriptions-rise" class="wp-block-heading">Nigeria’s data usage and data subscriptions rise</h4> 
Nigeria also witnessed a steep rise in data usage in the year under review. According to the NCC numbers, total national data usage rose from 675,250.54 terabytes in October 2023 to 850,249.09 terabytes in September 2024. This represents a 26 per cent increase in internet data consumption across the country. 
Similarly, internet data subscribers witnessed an uptick in the 12 months under review, rising from 88,907,930 in October of last year to 90,102,835 in September 2024. This represents a 1.3 per cent increase. 
Overall, the contribution of the telecoms industry to the national GDP also witnessed an impressive increase, rising from 13.50 per cent in Q3 2023, to 14 per cent in Q4, 14.58 per cent in Q1 2024 and finally to 16.36 per cent in Q2, 2024. 
While the telecom space might be witnessing these impressive growth numbers as reported by the NCC, the telcos powering these numbers appear to be getting the shorter end of the stick. In a recent report, Karl Toriola, CEO of Nigeria’s largest telecommunication company decried the increasing cost of providing the service, <a href="http://“If tariff doesn’t go up, we will shut down”- MTN CEO raises alarm" target="_blank">declaring that if the NCC does not review prices upward</a>, the company would have to shut down. 
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Toriola said that telecommunications operators face rising costs including increasing the rate of diesel prices used in powering base transceiver stations. 
“We must return to profitability. There should be no delusion; if the tariff doesn’t go up, we will shut down,” he said. 
He called for immediate intervention, pointing out that the company is now surviving on the reserves it has accumulated over two decades. It is left to be seen whether the NCC will approve a price increase going forward. This is a tricky affair considering that Nigerians already feel financially overstretched at the moment. 
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The post <a href="https://technext24.com/2024/10/29/subscriptions-telcos-lose-in-one-year/">NIN-SIM verification: Telcos lose 67.2m subscriptions in one year as data usage rises by 26%</a> first appeared on <a href="https://technext24.com">Technext</a>.

NIN-SIM verification: Telcos lose 67.2m subscriptions in one year as data usage rises by 26%

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