Telecom subscribers in Nigeria reach 214.35m – NCC
Active telecommunication subscribers in the country has hit 214.35 million in October, according to new industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
According to the NCC, the figure represents the highest Nigeria has recorded since the total number of subscribers peaked at 207.58 million in October 2020.
This is just as the supervising Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy says about 31.6 million Nigerians still live in areas without telecoms coverage.
The consistent growth witnessed in the number of telecoms subscribers in 2022 aligns with the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) growth prediction for the industry, according to findings.
The GSMA notes that Nigeria has a sizeable number of its population under the age of 18, indicating that its subscriber growth would remain strong for the foreseeable future as more young consumers crossed into adulthood and subscribed to mobile services.
“In 2021, mobile technologies and services generated around 8 percent of GDP across Sub-Saharan Africa, a contribution that amounted to almost $140bn of economic value added.
“The mobile ecosystem also supported more than 3.2 million jobs (directly and indirectly) and made a substantial contribution to the funding of the public sector, with $16bn raised through taxes on the sector. By 2025, mobile’s contribution will grow by $65bn (to almost $155bn), as the countries in the region increasingly benefit from the improvements in productivity and efficiency brought about by the increased take-up of mobile services.”
On the rise in the subscriber base, the telecommunications providers have attributed the growth to the mandatory National Identity Number (NIN) linking with SIM card registration exercise by the Federal Government.
According to the Telcos, more subscribers are getting new SIM cards in a bid to circumvent restrictions on SIMs that had not been linked with their National Identification Numbers.
