Airtel, MTN, and others lose more than 8 million data plans
Nigeria’s leading telecommunications companies Airtel, MTN, Glo, and 9mobile lost more than 8 million data subscribers in the second quarter of the year.
According to data obtained from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the four leading telecom leaders lost 1.27 million data subscribers in May 2021, compared to the 3.17 million they lost in April 2021 and the 3.55 million subscribers lost in March 2021.
The total number of mobile subscribers of the four major telecommunications companies fell from 141.41 million in April to 140.13 million at the end of May 2021. It is noteworthy that the data subscriber base in Nigeria has been in a sustained decline since the NIN-SIM. forbid.
Airtel lost a total of 2.84 million data subscribers during the assessment period, as the number of data subscribers fell from 38,956,026 registered as of early March to 36,120,443 at the end of May 2021.
As of February 2021, Airtel had a total mobile subscriber base of 51.43 million but had fallen to 50.03 million by the end of May 2021.
MTN Nigeria lost a total of 2.64 million data subscribers between March and May this year. At the end of May 2021, the telco giant had 60,202,402 data subscribers, down from 61,575,323 and 62,843,182 it registered in late March and February.
Between March 2021 and May 2021, the telco giant lost a total of 3.3 million mobile subscribers. This represents a 4.27% reduction in data subscribers.
At the end of May 2021, MTN had 74,044,687 mobile subscribers, accounting for 39.7% of the total subscriber base in the country.
The others, Globacom and 9mobile, also felt the heat, as they lost a total of 2,112 million and 415,905 data subscribers over the same period, respectively.
Aside from the sim registration saga, the drop in data plan can also be linked to a few other factors, including the growing Internet service provider market. Many Nigerians have opted for alternative ISPs like Smile, SpectraNet, and others as they were dissatisfied with the price or internet speed of the mainstream telecom companies.
Another possible cause is the growing poverty in Africa’s largest economy. the average Nigerian now spends 101 percent of their income on food, which therefore creates opportunity costs for expenses such as data plans.
