The lifting of the SIM registration ban in April failed to lift the fortunes of mobile network operators in Nigeria as the sector lost 3.7 million voice subscribers in that month.
The telecommunication sector’s total mobile subscription declined to 188.3 million in April from 192 million subscriptions in March. The loss means the sector has now lost 15.7 million subscribers in five months, from December 2020 when the SIM ban was imposed to April 2021, when the ban was lifted.
The latest figures released by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) not only showed that the big four operators in the sector lost significantly in April, but the broadband penetration in the country has also now declined to 40.66 percent from 41.18 percent in March. At 40.66 percent, the sector has seen 4.36 percent erased from the 45.02 percent penetration it recorded in December 2020. It also means the country is now 50 percent off its 90 percent broadband penetration target by 2023 as recently announced by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Ali Isa Pantami.
“The decline can be largely attributed to the National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) integration exercise. Based on our channel checks, the stress associated with the NIN-SIM linkage has resulted in customers abandoning SIMs of devices that are not their primary source for communication or internet connectivity,” researchers at FBN Quest said in a note.
The loss may also confirm the views of experts like Olushola Teniola, former President of the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) that the recessive economy has also impacted the purchasing power of many Nigerians. Inflation is at 18.12 percent while food inflation hovers at 22.72 percent, meaning that millions of Nigerians have to prioritise their food basket before secondary necessities like data bundles. It also means they would need to work longer hours to afford the cheapest data.
The country’s teledensity – the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living within an area – also decline below 100 percent to 98.88 percent in April from 100.8 percent, for the first time since March 2020.
The biggest loser of the four telecom operators was Globacom which accounted for over 60 percent of the total losses. The telco lost 2.3 million out of the 3.7 million to take its total to 50.5 million from 52.9 million. The telco has now completed five months of losses starting from December 2020. However, it managed to retain its second-largest telco position despite shedding almost one percentage point off its market share at 26.8 percent compared to 27.68 percent in March.
Airtel, a contender for the second-largest throne came close to regaining the position as its market share slightly grew 26.64 percent from 26.20 percent. The telco also reduced the number of subscription losses compared to previous months. Airtel’s subscription losses which were over one million in two previous months were also the largest of the four telcos in the same period but in April only 207,542 subscriptions were lost on the network.
9Mobile was back on the loss table in April with 71,228 subscribers leaving its platform and nearly upsetting the 77,494 gains it made in March. That leaves the total number of subscribers on 9Mobile at 12.7 million in April from 12.8 million in March.
MTN saw the second-largest subscription loss at 1.1 million to leave its total subscriber base at 74.8 million in April from 75.9 million in March. However, the largest telecom operator’s market share improved slightly rising to 39.72 percent in April from 39.52 in March.
The GDP growth of the telecom sector declined significantly in the first quarter at 7.69 percent from the previous quarter where it recorded 17.64 percent. aN almost 150 percent decline in three months is very significant for a sector expected to carry the burden of the country’s digital economy. BusinessDay reported that it is the largest growth decline the industry has seen in many years and contributed to the wider drop the information and communication technology (ICT) sector witnessed.
“To deepen broadband infrastructure and increase digital expansion in the country, state governments need to allow open access infrastructure rollout. We understand that Anambra state has waived right-of-way (RoW) fees for telecom operators. This is part of the state’s efforts to drive broadband expansion. The absence of a unified RoW fee across states within the country continuously stalls the advancement of broadband fibre networks,” the FBN Quest researchers said
