Number of GSM subscribers drops to 148.6 million

folarin okunola

April 27, 2016 1:20 PM

On a year-on-year basis the industry subscriber base rose by about 8.9 per cent from 136.6 million in December 2014 to 148.6 million in December 2015, while MTN still maintained its domination of market share.

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Media reports reveal that the total number of GSM subscribers which had peaked at almost 150 million in November last year, dropped to 148.6 million by end of the year.

On a year-on-year basis the industry subscriber base rose by about 8.9 per cent from 136.6 million in December 2014 to 148.6 million in December 2015, while MTN still maintained its domination of market share.

Per a report, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), indicated that the decline in the fourth quarter of the year which represented a reversal of third quarter growth was due to declines in MTN subscriber base from 62.4 million to 61.2 million and Etisalat from 23.4 million to 22.1 million. Other telecoms operators such as Globacom and Airtel witnessed increases in their number of subscribers.

The NCC report also revealed that 2015 was a more active year for porting activities as opposed to 2014, as total incoming porting increased by 42.88 per cent to 212,401 from 148,652.

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This was led by Etisalat, who gained 137,466 incoming porters in 2015 compared to 69,364 in 2014, an increase of 98.18 per cent.

Outgoing porting activity, on the other hand, increased by 50.38 per cent to 219,559 from 145,998 between 2014 and 2015.

MTN which lost 125,515 porters in 2015 compared to 67,039 in 2014, led in the numbers of subscribers lost to porting, an increase of 87.23 per cent.

According to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, the telecommunications sector contributed N 1.65 trillion or 8.88 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, in the final quarter of 2015, a slight increase relative to the 8.76 per cent contribution recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.

folarin okunola