Telecommunication operators completely removed 4.75 million phone users from their networks in 2021. This followed the over eight million telephone lines disconnected in 2020.
The figures are contained in the latest subscription statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday.
The report showed that the number of telephones as at December 2021, stood at 195.5 million active telephone lines compared to 200.2 million telephone users at the beginning of the year.
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The enrolment and verification of the National Identification Number (NIN) to Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards policy imposed by the Federal Government, weak consumer purchasing power and Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) contributed to the problems.
A breakdown from the report shows that subscriber’s base dropped from 200.2 million subscribers in January 2021 to 196 million in February and further slid to 192.4 million in March 2021.
By April, the figure dropped further to 188.7 million and 187 million in May.
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By June, the figure rose slightly to 187.6 million. In July 2021, NCC statistics showed the number rose to 187.8 million and 189.3 million in August.
By the last quarter of 2021, the subscriptions saw a twist, as more SIMs became activated. By September 2021, Nigeria had 190.8 million users.
It moved to 191.9 million in October and by November, operators gained over two million users to peak at 193.2 million and 195.5 million by the end of the year.
The country’s teledensity, which stood at 104.8 per cent as at the beginning of the year, dropped to 102.4 per cent by December 2021.