214m Nigerians telecoms subscribers – NCC

…Issues alert on apps stealing personal data

THE number of active telecommunications subscribers has risen to 214.35 million in October, according to new industry statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

   This is the highest number of recorded telecoms subscribers in the nation since the total number of subscribers peaked at 207.58 million in October 2020, months before the SIM-NIN linkage.

On what has driven subscriber growth in 2022, telecoms disclosed that more subscribers were getting new SIMs in a bid to circumvent restrictions on SIMs that had not been linked with their National Identification Numbers.

In MTN’s third quarter release, its Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, said“as a result, the average daily gross connection was 48.1 per cent above the pre-directive level, partly driven by the cohort of subscribers who were initially restricted and opted to register new SIMs.

“Combined with increased usage from the existing base, these have supported acceleration in the service revenue growth recovery and mitigated the impact of churn on the base.”

The consistent growth witnessed in the number of telecoms subscribers in 2022 aligns with GSMA’s growth prediction for the industry.

According to the global industry’s association, Nigeria has a sizeable number of its population under the age of 18, indicating that its subscriber growth would remain strong for the foreseeable future as more young consumers crossed into adulthood and subscribed to mobile services.

GSMA expects 18 million new Nigerians to become unique telecoms subscribers by 2025 since mobile connectivity is at the core of connectivity in Nigeria, with the majority of online services accessed through mobile channels in the nation.

“In 2021, mobile technologies and services generated around 8 per cent of GDP across Sub-Saharan Africa, a contribution that amounted to almost $140bn of economic value added. The mobile ecosystem also supported more than 3.2 million jobs (directly and indirectly) and made a substantial contribution to the funding of the public sector, with $16b raised through taxes on the sector. By 2025, mobile’s contribution will grow by $65bn (to almost $155b), as the countries in the region increasingly benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the increased take-up of mobile services,” the report reads in part.

Similarly, NCC has warned Nigerians to stay away from mobile applications from the ‘Mobile Apps Group.’

According to the commission, the group had been discovered to release apps containing Trojans and adware that were harmful to users and their privacy.