Active mobile subscriptions in Nigeria increased to 219.7 million in February 2024, owing to significant gains made by the two largest providers by users, MTN and Airtel. This was discovered by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in its most recent industry data, issued on Monday.
The surge came after operators lost more than 6 million subscriptions in January due to the NCC’s implementation of the NIN-SIM rule.
From 224.4 million in December 2023, active subscriptions across the four mobile networks fell to 218 million in January 2024. While Globacom had a tiny gain in memberships this month, 9mobile, the struggling fourth mobile provider, saw a decrease in subscriptions.
According to a breakdown of the operators’ data, MTN, which controls most of the market, added 1.1 million new subscribers in February. According to NCC figures, this boosted its total subscriptions to 80.9 million.
Airtel also added 434,175 new subscribers during the month under review. This increased its subscriber database from 62.6 million in January to 63 million in February.
Although not as much as MTN and Airtel, Globacom increased its subscriber base by 176,756 monthly. Globacom reported 62.1 million active memberships in February, compared to 61.9 million the previous month.
However, 9mobile lost 151,517 subscriptions in February, bringing it back into the red. The telco, which has lost millions of members over the years, had 13.6 million active subscriptions in February 2024, a decrease from 13.8 million in January.
Meanwhile, telecom companies will likely disconnect additional lines this month, perhaps leading to a drop in the country’s mobile subscribers.
According to a directive issued by the NCC in December of last year, all Nigerian telecommunications operators, including MTN, Airtel, and Globacom, among others, must implement complete network barring on all phone lines for which subscribers have not submitted their national identification numbers (NINs) by February 28, 2024.
The NCC’s decision also required telecommunications firms to block lines with NINs submitted but not validated by March 29, 2024, and those with fewer than five lines linked to an unverified NIN by April 15, 2024.
The mandatory connection of NIN with mobile lines is part of the government’s endeavor to improve security in the country.
The action attempts to reduce the possibility of using several SIM cards for unlawful purposes.
