Broadband Penetration Soars to 48% as Nigeria Achieves 223.8 Million Mobile Subscribers

The Nigerian telecommunications industry has demonstrated a consistent upward trend as indicated by a recent report from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

According to the report, the number of mobile phone subscribers in the country reached a remarkable 223.8 million as of April 2023. This milestone was disclosed by NCC’s director of Public Affairs Reuben Muoka.

He revealed that the number of Internet subscribers for the same period was 157 million while broadband subscriptions stood at 92 million, translating to 48 percent broadband penetration in the country.

Teledensity, which refers to the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living within an area, rose to 117 percent.

In terms of contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the telecommunications and information services sector in Nigeria contributed the sum of N2.508 trillion in terms of financial value in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, representing 14.13 percent.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said, “Telecoms contribution to GDP was calculated from 46 distinct sectors of the economy, which constitute telecoms and information services baskets. The Nigerian telecoms industry has continued to show a positive outlook, which is credited to the innovative and predictable telecoms regulatory environment implemented by the NCC.

“One of the key highlights of the telecoms industry performance within the period was the generation of 820.8 million dollars for the Federal Government from 5G spectrum licenses fees. The fees were paid by three operators, MTN, MAFAB, and Airtel.”

Figures released by the NBS show that the telecoms sector recorded a 4.3 percent increase from its performance in the last quarter of 2022 when it recorded 13.55 percent.  When compared on a year-on-year basis, the sector showed a positive growth trajectory from 12.94 percent in the first quarter of 2022, to 14.13 percent in the first quarter of 2023.

Investors King understands that the Nigerian telecom industry’s positive growth is credited to the innovative telecom regulatory environment promoted and implemented by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Notably, one of the major highlights of the telecom industry’s remarkable performance within the period was the generation of $820.8 Million for the federal government from the 5G spectrum license fees paid by three telecom operators, Airtel, MTN, and MAFAB.