More and more Nigerians are continuing to port in search of better voice and internet services. In January 2019 for instance, 9Mobile recorded the highest outgoing subscribers who ported to other available network providers.
The company, which is currently experiencing an in-house rancour among its core investors as well as ownership issues, also recorded the highest number of incoming subscribers despite its subscriber base dropping to its lowest in seven years.
According to the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), a total of 2000 mobile users ported to 9mobile in January 2019.
MTN Nigeria recorded the second highest incoming subscriber, with 1,494 new users porting to the market leader. It also recorded the lowest exit of users in January, after seeing 1,072 users ported to its rivals.
Airtel Nigeria was third on the list of incoming with 1,072 new users, while 1,404 of the company’s already existing customers ported to other network services.
Meanwhile, Globacom recorded the lowest incoming users with 817, even as 1,187 users left the service provider to sample the services of its competitors.
MTN, Airtel grow subscriber base while 9mobile, Glo drop
MTN Nigeria continues to maintain its leadership position in the Nigerian telecommunication industry after recording about five percent growth in its subscriber base for the period of January 2019.
The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) reported that MTN Nigeria‘s subscriber base grew from 43.8 million in December 2018 to 45.9 million the month after.
Following MTN‘s growth step is Airtel Nigeria which recorded two percent to hit 30.4 million subscriber base in January from 29.7 million in December 2018.
While MTN and Airtel recorded growth in January, Glo and 9mobile dipped by two percent and -0 percent respectively. In December, Glo accounted for 28 million subscribers, but dropped to 27.6 million users in January. Also, 9mobile dropped to 9.8 million from 9.9 million subscribers between December and January.
Why 9mobile and Glo’s customer base dropped: 9mobile could have lost some of its users due to the company’s ownership tussle that has seen some core investors taking the company to court. This has resulted in uncertainty over the telecoms’ future and long-term plan.
While for Globacom, users of the domestic network operators have often complained of the company’s poor network service. This could have contributed to the drop recorded in its customer base.
