Internet subscribers hit 163.8m in March, says NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says internet subscribers increased to 163.89 million in March, from 162.80 million subscribers recorded in February.

This means internet subscribers increased by one million in a month.

In its recent industry data, the commission said out of the total figure, mobile (GSM) accounted for 163.35 million subscribers — leaving the remaining subscribers under fixed wired and VoIP.

The NCC said all telecommunication companies recorded an increase in internet subscriptions — except 9mobile — in the period under review.

Consequently, the country’s internet subscribers increased by 1.08 million or 0.67 percent in one month.

According to the regulator, the number of MTN Nigeria’s internet subscribers rose by 750,347  to 68.63 million in March — from 67.93 million in February. 

TheCable Index analysis of the data showed that Airtel also recorded an increase by 411,051  subscribers to 46.81 million in March, from 46.40 million in February.

The commission said subscribers under Globacom increased by 54,994 to 44.38 million in the same month, indicating an uptick from 44.32 million recorded the previous month.

On the other hand, subscribers under 9mobile decreased by 130,033 from 3.43 million in February to 3.30 million in March, according to the data.

The NCC industry statistics also showed that there were 219 million subscribers for telephony services in March — down by 677,362 from 219.68 million in February  

Out of the total value, MTN is said to have recorded 81.79 million active telephony subscribers, Airtel accounted for 63.35 million, Globacom retained 62.19 million, and 9mobile had 11.65 million.