Telecom: Call, data subscriptions hit 221.7m, 160.2m

Nigeria has witnessed a steady increase in active voice and internet subscriptions, including a drop in teledensity as contained in the latest telecommunications statistical indicators released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday.

In the latest release, the active voice subscription statistics witnessed a marginal growth from 220,361,186 to 221,769,883 as of September, 2023. In addition, internet subscriptions also enjoyed a marginal growth from 159,034,717 in August, 2023 to 160,171,757 in September, 2023, NCC, in a statement signed by its Public Affairs Director, Reuben Mouka, said the telecom industry’s statistical reports of September, October and November, 2023, published on the commission’s website were predicated upon the Nigerian Population Commission’s (NPC’s) projection of Nigeria’s population at 216,783,381 as of 2022, replacing the previously used 2017 projection of 190 million people.

“With the consequential adjustment, which is in line with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s calculation of teledensity, the nation’s teledensity dropped from 115.63 per cent to 102.30 per cent in September, while Broadband penetration witnessed a similar drop from 45.47 per cent to 40.85 per cent in the same month.

“In October 2023 the industry also experienced a 0.19% growth in Active Voice subscriptions while teledensity stood at 102.49% with Internet subscriptions increasing by 0.60% compared to September, 2023,” Mouka said.

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In November, of the same year, he said the industry also experienced a 0.46 per cent growth in active voice subscriptions.

Teledensity stood at 102.97 per cent with a 0.57 per cent increase in internet subscriptions when compared to October, 2023, he added.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, affirmed the nation’s telecom statistical adjustment process as an appropriate step to maintain the integrity of data about the Nigerian telecom industry as collected, collated and published by the commission.