MTN, Airtel, Glo and 9mobile lost over 3.55 million data subscribers in March 2021. This is according to information obtained from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The total number of subscribers of the four major telecommunication outfits dropped from 148,133,233 at end of February 2021 to 144,581,026 at the end of March 2021.
The decline in the number of telco subscribers could be attributed to the recent suspension of SIM card sales and registration, as Nigerians grapple with the stress of registering for and obtaining their national identity numbers.
READ: GDP: Shrinking consumer wallet could have contributed to slower telecoms growth
Top losers in the Telecoms Market
MTN
Between February 2021 and March 2021, MTN Nigeria lost a total of 1.27 million data subscribers. At the end of March 2021, MTN had 61.57 million data subscribers, down from 62.84 million data subscribers in February 2021.
Between December 2020 and February 2021, the Telco giant lost a total of 4.67 million subscribers. This represents a 5.7% reduction in mobile subscribers.
At the end of February 2021, MTN had 77.35 million mobile subscribers, accounting for 39.5% of the total subscriber base in the country.
READ: MTN, Airtel make N720.1 billion from voice, data, others in 3 months
Airtel
Airtel lost a total of 1.17 million data subscribers between February 2021 and March 2021. The figures dropped from 38,956,026 to 37,778,569 subscribers.
Airtel had a total mobile subscriber base of 57.23 million as at November 2020, which had dropped to 51.43 million at the end of February 2021.
READ: Data war: MTN takes over, gains 1.7 million subscribers, as Glo outshines Airtel in June
What you should know
The others, Globacom and 9mobile, also suffered from the drought, as they lost a total of 892,821 and 214,070 data subscribers respectively.
Nairametrics had reported that the four major telco players in Nigeria lost a total of 11.8 million customers since the implementation of NIN-SIM card ban by the Federal Government in December 2020.
Nairametrics Research conducted an analysis of the likely losses incurred by GSM companies due to the SIM Card registration ban. A cursory look at historic data shows that Nigerian GSM companies recorded an average of 2.32 million additional subscribers each month for the first 10 months of 2020.
Assuming the same incremental rate at a selling price of N100 per new sim card, these GSM Telcos may have lost about N1.1 billion in sim card sales between December 2020 and April 2021 due to the ban.
We are paying so much for data in Nigeria even Wi-Fi. Other countries do not charge so much.
I totally agree with you on this.
Not becos of sim ban ..we are paying to much on data ..they rate at which they charge is much .other countries its like a gift but here it like they estort us with style .what a shame ..Airtel that we praise before interns of data usage now they have become the worst so far .all this amount to the loss .People are tired nothing to enjoy in this country .
It’s a cut throat rip off with data companies, meanwhile in other climes they pay little or nothing, I don’t know why they’ve to put us through this here in Nigeria. They’re not bothered about the unfortunate events in the country&the world @large
Suspension of sim card sale does not explain the declining subscription. It might explain that the Telcos aren’t growing in customer acquisition. But the decline presented here is across board—.all the Telcos lost existing subscribers. I’d think the analysis would focus on things like pricing, service quality and alternative data subscription providers (Smile, Spectranet, etc..). If these subscribers all dropped off the Telcos radar, where did they go, and why?
The decline in data users is not because of nin or non sells of sim cards only, the data became too expensive many decided not buy accept crucial purposes only. Honestly Nigerian are paying so much for little data
I don’t see this as a result of NIN registration alone., these telecom companies are just out to rip us off we pay too much for data unlike other countries while you can’t even use the data as there must be network problem after subscribing for a data plan they should be properly regulated and monitored, thank God they’re now loosing customers nobody should put the blame on federal government, they should put their house in otherwise they will lose more when a competitor emerged especially MTN and GLO
How his office now,
Nigeria government should resume registration of Sim card, the network companies should reduce the much charge put for a subscription.
Why won’t they lost such amount of money when they are very greedy & selfish. When you buy 1000 naira data for a month, you won’t even use it up-to a week b4 it got finished.
It’s good that they’re loosing… which country in the world asks for identity number before acquisition of a sim ?? Which country in the world will you pay for 500 naira worth of data bundle and it won’t even last a full day? Airtel is the worst, their own only lasts a few hours, Glo will switch off their network for no reason, and 9Mobile, who even hears of 9Mobile? Lol, confused country
What goes around comes around.
They’re beginning to feel the pain now that the the subscribers are retreating.
It’s not just because NIN registration alone, they don’t treat customers with kind, indiscriminate charges here and there with alot unrealistic promos..
Networks are taking advantage of people because of the love people have for internet. To me the declining rates of operators is not the consequence of nin, rather they need to redeem their policies.
Nin is nt d issue dont jus use it as an excuse data rate is much more dan b4 in our country. U will subscribe for one month in two weeks u will see dt ur data has finished