The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC has revealed that the total number of subscribers rose from 195.13 million as of December 2021 to 222.23 million. The commission added that the growth signifies a complete shake-off in the decline that plagued the telecoms industry in 2021 when the total number of mobile subscriptions dropped by 4.42 per cent from 204.15 million in December 2020 to 195.13 million in December 2021.
In April 2022, over 72.77 million active telecommunication subscribers were barred from mobile network services due to the implementation of the Federal Government’s National Identification Number-Subscriber Identity Module policy. This led to a decline in mobile users.
However, the industry has recovered from this decline with MTN Nigeria recording about a 20.96 per cent increase in subscribers, moving from 73.59 million to 89.02 million; Airtel, 11.38 per cent moving from 53.93 million to 60.07 million; Globacom, 9.98 per cent from 54.82 million to 60.29 million; and 9mobile grew by 0.49 per cent from 12.85 million to 12.79 million.
Africa's biggest mobile population is expected to continue to grow due to its large youth population. and according to Global System for Mobile Communications/ Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSMA), the global body representing telcos, 18 million new Nigerians will become unique subscribers by 2025.
