More heartache for MTN as it loses 881k subscribers

MTN, Nigeria’s largest telecommunications company, lost 999,891 subscribers between June and July.

According to the latest industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the total number of active lines decreased by 881,586.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently ordered MTN to refund $8.1 billion it allegedly repatriated through illegal means.

Globacom’s subscribers increased by 214,646 while Airtel’s subscribers increased by 149,880.

9mobile’s subscribers decreased by 246,221.

NCC said the active mobile lines at the end of July decreased to 161.42 million from the 162.30 million in June.

Also, the mobile code division multiple access (CDMA) for active mobile lines in July was 125,444 as against 217,566 in June, a decrease of 92,122.

The report said the number of fixed wired/wireless for active mobile lines in July was 140,582 compared to June, which had 140,627 lines, indicating a decrease of 45 lines.

According to NCC, the number of voice-over-internet protocol (VOIP) was 101,131 in July compared with 97,941 recorded in June, recording an increase of 3,190.

Teledensity reduced by 0.69 in July to 115.57 as against 116.26 in June.

NAN reports that teledensity is the number of telephone connections for every 100 individuals living within an area and it varies widely across the country.

NCC also said the number of connected lines in July stood at 238.21 million as against 239.33 million in June, a decrease of 1.12 million.

The CDMA for connected lines for July was 246,126 as against 3.58 million in June, a decrease of 3.33 million, the subscribers’ data revealed.

The report said the number of fixed wired/wireless for connected lines in July was 350,998 compared to June that had 350,644, an increase of 354 lines.

It also showed that the number of VOIP for connected lines in July was 667,763 as against 642,734 in June rising by 25,029 lines.