Telecom industry records 218.9m active mobile subscriptions in November

The Nigerian telecom industry hit 218.9 million active subscriptions in November across the four major mobile networks including MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile compared to 193.2 million in the same period of 2021.

Data sighted by BusinessDay shows that the increase was driven by MTN which recorded 3.1 million, the highest number of active subscribers for telephony services in the month under review.

“Consumers are spending more on data and companies are also driving productivity through maximum usage of broadband technology,” Ajibola Olude, executive secretary of the association of telecommunication companies of Nigeria (ATCON) said.

“The increase also shows that the internet of things and robotics have started gaining momentum in the Nigeria digital space because all this innovation requires sims to perform various functions,” he said.

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With the growth recorded by the operators, the country’s teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living within an area, also jumped from 112.47 percent in October to 114.07 percent in November 2022. According to NCC, the teledensity is calculated based on a population estimate of 190 million.

According to the data, MTN recorded the highest in subscribers by operators, which gained 3.1 million from 86.4 recorded in November 2022 to 83.3 million in October 2022.

Airtel was second as its subscribers grew by 713,865 in November, with a total of 59.3 million in November compared to 58.6 million in October 2022.

Glo also recorded a 312,274 increase in active subscribers in the month under review. This brought the total subscription recorded in November to 59.9 million compared to 59.6 million recorded in October.

However, 9mnobile is not left behind as the company’s active subscribers increased from 12.8 million to 12.7 million in the periods under review.