Active subscriptions for the internet across mobile, fixed and VOIP networks in Nigeria rose to 162 million in November 2023.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), revealed this in the latest telecom industry data.
The NCC said the November internet subscription figure represents a 0.6 per cent increase when compared with the 161.1 million recorded in the previous month (October).
According to the report, mobile network operators MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile maintained their dominance of the internet market with 161.5 million internet subscriptions as of November, representing 99.6 per cent of the total subscriptions.
VOIP operators, which include Smile Communications and Ntel accounted for 354,909 internet subscriptions as of November, while other internet service providers (ISPs) accounted for 208,612 internet subscriptions.
However, in spite the growth in internet subscriptions, the number of Nigerians on 5G, which offers the fastest internet speed is still very low.
According to the NCC data, 5G subscriptions in the country stood at 0.96 per cent as of November 2023.
“The data shows that despite the operators’ investments in expanding higher technologies, 4G and 5G, 59.32% of Nigerian subscribers were still on 2G networks. This, however, showed that some Nigerians are gradually moving out of the old technology as 60.47% of subscribers were on 2G as of August last year.
“The telecom industry statistics further show that 9.81% of Nigerian subscribers were on 3G connection, a higher generation of network launched in Nigeria in 2007. 3G ushered in the use of video calls and had significantly higher data transfer, operating at a speed of up to 2mbs, and increased bandwidth compared to the 2G network.
“According to the Commission, subscriptions for 4G, which the operators started rolling out in 2016 still stood at 29.91% as of November 2023.”
