The restriction on Subscriber Identity Module, SIM registration on 2020 cost Nigeria over nine million data subscribers in 2021, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, 2021 Annual report and Accounts for the year, report has said.
The report which was released recently also said that active telecom subscribers declined by 4.67 percent from 204,601,313 subscribers in December of 2020, to 195,463,898 subscribers in December 2021.
Also, active internet subscription decreased by 7.99 percent from 154,301,185 to 141,971,560 while broadband subscription witnessed a reduction of 9.19 percent in 2021 from 45.02 percent to 40.88 percent.
The report stated: “Active telecom subscribers declined by 4.67 percent from 204,601,313 subscribers in December of 2020, to 195,463,898 subscribers in December 2021.
“Active internet subscription also decreased by 7.99 percent from 154,301,185 to 141,971,560 during the period under review. This represents a loss of about nine million data subscribers in 2021.
“Broadband subscription witnessed a reduction of 9.19 percent in 2021 from 45.02 percent to 40.88 percent.”
NCC said: “The overall decline can be attributed to the audit of the subscriber registration database during which the sale, registration and activation of new SIM cards were suspended until the completion of the exercise.
“The policy also restricted foreigners and visitors from purchasing mobile lines, just as it made it difficult for existing users to retrieve their lost lines.”
Recall that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), had in December 2020 directed the NCC to embark on another audit of the Subscriber Registration Database.
The objective of the audit exercise was to verify and ensure compliance by Mobile Network Operators with the set quality standards and requirements of SIM Card Registration as issued by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Commission.
Meanwhile, in terms of contribution of the telecommunications sector to the Gross Domestic Product, GDP of Nigeria, the report noted that its contribution to GDP increased by 1.29 percent from 12.45 percent in 2020 to 12.61 percent in 2021.
It noted that Global System for Mobile, GSM services continued to dominate the market share by technology with 99.80 percent market share while Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP, and Fixed Wired technology have 0.10 percent market each.
It said: “GSM market share – MTN continues to be the market leader in the GSM market with a market share of 37.72 percent despite the decline in its market share of 4.65 percent (39.56 percent in 2020).
“It is followed by Globacom with a market share of 28.09 percent (up from 26.86 percent in 2020 representing an increase of 4.58 percent; Airtel with 27.64 percent (up from 26.86 percent in 2020 representing an increase of 1.43 percent) and 9mobile with a market share of 6.55 percent (up from 6.27 percent in 2020 representing an increase of 4.47 percent).
On Fixed Wired market share, it said: “21st century dominated this market segment with a market share of 89.34 percent at the end of the reporting period. This was followed by MTN fixed, GLO fixed and ipNX with market share of 6.94 percent, 2.56 percent and 1.16 percent respectively.
Also, “VoIP market share: Smile communication enjoyed 99.01 percent of the VoIP market followed by Ntel with 0.99 percent market share.”