Telecommunications operators added 8.9 million subscribers to the country’s network in the first six months of 2022.
The new figure was contained in the latest subscription figure, the June edition, which was released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), yesterday.
The 8.9 million subscribers consist of new users and lines that were reactivated after they were barred in April.
In the latest statistics, teledensity moved from 103.4 per cent in January to 108.15 per cent as of June end.
Telephone density or teledensity is the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals living within an area. It varies widely across the nations and also between urban and rural areas within a country. Telephone density has a significant correlation with the per capita GDP of the area.
In January, the country had 197.5 million subscribers; 198.1 million in February; 199.6 million in March; 201.7 million in April; 2014.6 million in May and 206.4 million in June. The country’s telephone density increased within the six months from 103.4 per cent to 108.1 per cent by half of the year.
The data also showed that broadband service operators ended the half year with 5.2 million users as subscriptions moved from 79.4 million in January to 84.6 million by June, deepening the country’s penetration to 44.3 per cent.
Internet penetration moved from 143.5 million in January to 151 million by June. Specifically, MTN increased its data users by adding 4.2 million. In January, MTN had 59.6 million users and rose to 63.4 million; Glo garnered 332,083 users, moving from 39.5 million in January to 39.9 million in June.
Meanwhile, MTN maintained its leadership of the industry with 79 million subscribers and 38.36 per cent penetration of the country. Airtel is second with 58.1 million users and 28.21 per cent penetration; followed by Globacom with 56.2 million customers and 27.28 per cent penetration. 9mobile maintained its fourth position with a 6.14 per cent market reach and 12.6 million customers.
