February 2024 saw a significant rise in Nigeria’s active mobile subscriptions, reaching 219.7 million, largely due to substantial increases by leading telecom operators MTN and Airtel.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed these figures in its latest industry report.
The growth follows a loss of over 6 million subscriptions in January, attributed to the enforcement of the NIN-SIM policy by the NCC.
After a dip from 224.4 million in December 2023 to 218 million in January 2024, the four major networks experienced varying fortunes.
MTN, holding the market’s majority, added 1.1 million new subscribers, raising its total to 80.9 million. Airtel followed suit, with an increase of 434,175, reaching a subscriber count of 63 million.
Globacom also saw an uptick, adding 176,756 subscribers, while 9mobile continued its downward trend, losing 151,517 subscribers.
The telecom sector anticipates further fluctuations as operators prepare to disconnect more lines in compliance with the NCC’s directives.
These measures, aimed at bolstering national security, require the disconnection of lines not linked with verified National Identification Numbers (NINs), potentially impacting overall subscription numbers.
