The recent data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) indicates a rise in the country’s mobile subscriptions.
Investors King reports that Nigeria’s telecom subscriptions increased by 4.61 million as it recorded 226.84 million in February, 2023.
In January 2022, the total number of subscriptions was 225.88 million and since then, has been on a rising trend for the telecommunication industry.
However, MTN has maintained the first position amongst other telecommunication provider companies with about 92.71 million mobile subscriptions.
Next on the telecom provider ranking list is Globacom with 60.76 million subscriptions, Airtel has 60.30 million, and 9mobile has 13.07 million.
The NCC statistics further showed that the number of active telephone connections per 100 residents in a geographical location grew by 119.01 per cent in February this year. While mobile internet subscriptions grew to 156.42 million, broadband penetration rose by 48.49 per cent and subscriptions reached 92.56 million.
In an interview, the Chief Operating Officer, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Ajibola Olude stated that the rising dependence on the internet by citizens and the government has influenced the high records of mobile subscriptions.
Olude mentioned that since the adoption of cashless policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the use of telecommunication increased.
He added that at the federal and state level, sensitisation on digitalisation and ICT has been intensified which has improved the patronage of telecom providers.
Olude said, “A lot of things are connected to the Internet, and they need SIMs. Asides from that, at the Federal and State level, there is serious awareness of the need to adopt ICT. Many services have moved online, and don’t forget that the CBN is pursuing a cashless economy which means that there is a need to probably use an Internet-enabled phone.
“The growth of broadband penetration is increasing the usage of digital technologies. This growth is set to drive broadband penetration beyond the Federal Government’s 50 per cent target for 2023.”