A recent data by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), showed that Nigeria’s four GSM operators MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile added 2.9 million subscriptions in May 2022.
Driving the news
Although MTN and Airtel contributed largely to the increased number of active subscriptions, the four GSM operators in the NCC report took the total number of active mobile subscriptions to 204.2 million in May 2022 from 201.3 million in the previous month, April.
- The operators hit the milestone of the month with the highest gain since the federal government lifted the ban on new SIM registration in April 2021.
- MTN gained the largest mobile purchase with 1.5 million subscriptions. Airtel and Globacom secured second and third place with 1.3 million and 1.2 million subscriptions, respectively. 9mobile is the only telecom operator to record a loss.
What this means
The upward trend of the figures released by NCC shows that the GSM networks are gradually regaining their subscribers since the federal government policy on sim registration cost the operators over 20 million subscriptions between December 2020 and April 2021.