Telecom subscribers in the country spent at least N261billion on airtime last month, according to figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The monthly subscriber data from NCC also showed that there were 174.668m active GSM subscribers from MTN, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile in August.
With the telecommunications companies’ ARPU amounting to $4.87 (N1490.22) per month, Nigerians spent N261bn on airtime in August.
The core revenue of telcos comes from airtime sales, and this income come in for operators via voice calls, SMS, data subscriptions and value-added services.
Nigerians purchase airtime through various platforms such as physical recharge card, the virtual top-up via USSD code, subscribers’ bank accounts domiciled on mobile devices, vending on web-based platforms and on Automated Teller Machines.
Despite predictions by analysts that voice and messaging revenue would decline due to the proliferation of instant messaging apps, revenue from airtime continue to rise.