Active telecom subscribers rise by 0.4 million in November – NCC

Active telecom subscribers grew by 453,343 in November 2016, making active users of telecommunication services in the country increased to 153,949,450 from 153,514,107 recorded in October, National Daily investigation has shown.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Monthly Subscriber/Operator Data, 153,547,164 of the 153,949,450 active numbers subscribed to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network services. The GSM operators’ active customers increased by 460,454 on the October number of 153,086,710 subscribers.

From the report, National Daily gathered that MTN had 61,280,293 users in November, an increase of 297,806 on the October figure of 60,982,487 subscribers. Globacom came second with an increased in November by 150,491, giving a total of 37,268,483 customers, as against 37,117,992 recorded in October.

Airtel had 33,376,556 subscribers in the month under review, which was an increase of 600,640 on the October figure of 32,775,916. Etisalat, however, recorded a reduction in customers by 588,483, giving a customer base of 21,621,832 compared to 22,210,315 users recorded in October.

Meanwhile, the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) operators decreased by 26,865 to 217,566 active users in November from 244,477 customers they had in October.

Between the two surviving CDMA service providers, Visafone’s customers reduced to 213,106 in November, as it lost 26,911 users from the October record of 240,017, while Multi-Links maintained 4,460 customers in November.

The monthly subscriber/operator data showed that the Fixed Wireless networks (landline) consumers decreased to 26,865 in November, as they lost 77 customers from their record of 26,942 in October.

Also, between the two Fixed Wireless operators, Visafone had 26,437 subscribers in November, losing 77 users from the October record of 26,514; while Multi-Links maintained its October record of 428 customers.

The record also indicated that the Fixed Wired operators (landline) subscriber base reduced by 99, giving a total of 124,713 users in November, as against 124,812 recorded in October.

In the Fixed Wired area, MTN Fixed moved from 5,842 in October to 5,697 in November, thereby reducing by 145 users; Glo Fixed had 12,586 users in November, adding 72 customers to the October record of 12,514.

IpNX network moved from 2,539 subscriber base in October to 2,480 in November, reducing its customers by 59 in November.

It said that 21st Century network had 103,950 customers in November, recording an increase of 33 users on its October record of 103,917.

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The report also showed that Smile Communications, the only operator on the Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) network had 33,142 active users in November, as it added 1,976 customers to its October subscriber base of 31,166.