The figure represents an upgrade from the 173 million subscriptions recorded in December of 2018.

The data implies that the telecommunications industry grew by 12 million subscribers across all networks, in one year.

Nigeria now has a teledensity of 96.7 per cent, the statistics from the NCC also shows. 

The subscription rate figure is the total number of registered subscribers on all networks, while teledensity is the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living in an area, often expressed as a percentage.

According to the NCC, mobile subscriptions have maintained a steady growth for eight consecutive months, beginning from April when the figure stood at 173.6 million, rising to 173.7 million in May, before peaking at 174 million in June of the same year.

As of July 2019, telecoms subscriptions reached 174.9 million and in August of the same year, the figure rose to 176.8 million and in September, it was 179.2 million.

The upward trend continued in October and November as subscriptions rose again to 180.4 million and 182.7 million respectively, before rising to 184.7 million respectively.

MTN is the largest telecoms operator by subscriber number in the country, with 69 million subscribers on its network.

Globacom is Nigeria’s second largest telecoms operator with 52 million subscribers on its network.

Airtel is ranked third with a subscriber base of 50 million.

9Mobile has 14 million subscribers on its network, to rank fourth.