MTN: Nigeria’s active mobile subscriptions hit 211.8 million

In September, there were 211.8 million active subscriptions for telecommunications services on the mobile networks of MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile. This is based on the most recent industry statistics made available by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The analysis proves that MTN, which registered the most extensive growth of 1.6 million subscriptions in the month, was the driving force behind the increase. The combined active mobile subscription database for the country stood at 209.6 million in August, hence the 4 GSM operators collectively saw a 2.3 million rise in subscriptions in September.

The number of active telephone connections per 100 people residing in an area, as measured by teledensity, increased as a result of the growth reported by the operators, rising from 109.99% in August to 111.50% in September 2022. The teledensity is determined based on a population estimate of 190 million, according to NCC.

How the telcos fared in September

According to data from the NCC, MTN, the operator with the most subscribers, added 1.6 million new subscribers in September. From the 79.6 million customers it had in its active customer database as of August, this increased that number to 81.2 million.

READ MORE: MTN Nigeria receives €100 million from EIB to Expand its High-speed Network

Glo maintained its second-place ranking by gaining 524,387 new subscribers during the month. Glo’s overall number of subscriptions increased from 58.8 million in August to 59.3 million as a result of the network’s new activations.

In the reviewed month, Airtel added 33,623 new subscribers, maintaining its position as the third-largest operator in the nation. The telco’s active customer database increased from 58.3 million in August to 58.4 million at the end of September.

During that time, 9mobile also added 83,575 subscriptions. The database of the corporation, which had seen losses in recent months, increased from the 12.7 million subscriptions it had in August to 12.8 million in September.

In contrast to last year, when they lost nearly 20 million subscribers as a result of the government’s ban on new SIM registration between December 2020 and April 2021, mobile network operators have added a total of 16.7 million new subscribers so far this year. There were 195.1 million active subscriptions across the four networks as of December 2021.