Katsina State recorded a massive 41.46% jump in the number of mobile internet subscribers the fastest growth by any state in the country. This is according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The data focus on mobile internet subscribers via GSM phones.
Katsina state recorded 3.679 million internet subscribers in the first quarter of 2020 compared to 3.17 million and 2.6 million subscribers in the 4th quarter and 1st quarter of 2019 respectively. This represents a 15.8% jump quarter on quarter and 41.5% jump year on year. No other state comes close.
Edo State was however second year on year recording a growth of 36.8% to 4.3 million internet subscribers. Katsina was also recorded the fastest growth quarter on quarter followed by Sokoto State.
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Nigeria’s Mobile Internet Subscribers Data
According to the data from the NBS, the total number of internet subscribers in Nigeria as at the first quarter of 2020 is 136, 203, 231. This compares to 126, 078, 999 in the 4th quarter of 2019 and 116, 310, 154 in the first quarter of 2019. This represents a QoQ growth of 8.03% and year on year growth of 17.1%.
Nigeria’s commercial cities of Lagos, Rivers State, FCT and Kano also recorded growth in internet subscribers year on year.
Lagos State
Subscribers – 17.02 million
YoY Growth – 7.16%
Rivers State
Subscribers – 5.12 million
YoY Growth – 9.77%
Kano
Subscribers – 8.33 million
YoY Growth – 33.19%
FCT
Subscribers – 6.13 million
YoY Growth – 13.3%
Internet Subscribers by Geopolitical Zones
We also observed the South West still retains the number one position in terms of internet subscribers per geopolitical zone with 39.1 million subscribers out of a total of 136.2 million in the country. The North-Western part of the country recorded the fastest growth of 29.9%. See below;
Internet Subscribers by GSM Companies
MTN continues to lead with 57.2 million subscribers. They also grew the fastest YoY by 23%
MTN – 57,282,123
GLO – 33,871,456
AIRTEL – 36,827,677
9MOBILE – 7,762,068
Others – 459,907
Total – 136,203,231
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Upshots: Internet subscriber’s growth in Nigeria continues to record double-digit growth and one of the fastest in the world. The competition for mobile data subscription is intense and could end up being a winner take all activity. As GSM companies move in search of growth, the North seems the area with the most potential for double-digit subscriber growth.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the North West has 46 million subscribers while the North East recorded the fastest growth. The correct data is 26.1 million for the North West making the South West the zone with the most internet subscribers. The North West also recorded the fastest growth and not the North East. The error is regretted.
