Article summary
- Internet subscriptions across all networks in Nigeria increased to 156.9 million in February.
- The database grew by 743,065 as the telecom operators added new internet users.
- Meanwhile, despite the availability of different networks offering internet service, mobile remained the dominant network used by Nigerians to access the internet.
Subscriptions for the internet across mobile, fixed and VOIP networks in the country rose to 156.9 million in February this year.
The latest industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) show that telecom operators recorded a total of 743,065 new subscriptions in the month to achieve the new height.
As of January 2023, internet subscriptions in the country stood at 156.2 million. Compared to the January 2023 figure, the internet subscription on the network increased by 0.48% in February.
More details
The NCC’s data reveals that the mobile network operators MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile maintained their dominance of the internet market with 156.4 million subscriptions. VOIP operators Smile and Ntel accounted for 345,422 internet subscriptions, while 16,320 were on fixed wired networks (21st Century and iPNX).
The subscription to broadband, that is, high-speed internet service, also rose to 92.5 million in February from 92 million recorded in January this year. This brought the country’s broadband penetration to 48.49%.
How the Telcos fared
According to NCC statistics, Globacom recorded an increase of 340,576 internet subscriptions in the month, which shot up its total active internet subscriptions to 43.4 million from the 43.06 million it recorded in January 2023.
MTN which has the largest operator by subscriber number, recorded in February an addition of 335,939 new internet subscriptions in the month, which brought its total active subscriptions to 66.7 million from the 66.4 million it recorded in January 2023.
Also, Airtel recorded a 111,039 increase in the month as its database grew from 41.7 million active internet subscriptions in January 2023 to 41.8 million in February.
However, 9mobile lost some internet subscriptions in the month as its database was reduced by 41,851. The telco’s active internet subscribers deteriorated to 4.33 million from 4.38 million in January.
