Telecom subscribers hit 221.7m in Q3 – NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has stated that 2,504 subscribers of 9mobile moved to another telecommunication service provider in the third quarter of 2023.

The report stated that the 3,389 customers that ported out during the period saw 9mobile being the highest followed by Airtel with 370 subscribers leaving. MTN had 325 and Globacom 200.

On the other hand, 2,342 subscribers ported into MTN followed by Airtel, 784, Globacom 191 and 9mobile 68.

The report stated that the total number of active voice subscribers in Q3 2023 was 221,769,883 from the 212,201,578 reported in Q3 2022.

It said this showed a growth rate of 4.51 per cent.

“On a quarter-on-quarter basis, this rose by 0.76 per cent. Also, in Q3 2023, the total number of active internet subscribers stood at 160,171,125 from 152,784,980 reported in Q3 2022, showing an increase of 4.83 per cent. On a quarter-onquarter basis, this grew by 0.42 per cent.”

For state profile analysis, it said Lagos State had the highest number of active voice subscribers in Q3 2023 with 27,043,333, followed by Ogun with 13,136,247 and Kano with 12,192,122.

“On the other hand, Bayelsa recorded the least with 1,558,509, followed by Gombe and Yobe with 2,643,899 and 2,760,261 respectively.”

It added that Lagos had the highest number of active internet subscribers in Q3 2023 with 19,188,745, followed by Ogun with 9,538,622 and Kano with 8,712,782.

Bayelsa recorded the least with 1,195,580, followed by Zamfara and Gombe with 1,863,686 and 1,909,498 respectively.

The report also said that MTN had the highest share of subscriptions in Q3 2023 with 85,854,576 active voice subscribers and 68,573,680 active internet subscribers. This is followed by Globacom with 61,451,508 voice subscribers and 43,981,204.

Airtel has 60,272,854 voice subscribers with 43,142,286 internet subscribers. For 9mobile, it has 13,762,115 voice subscribers and 3,907,085 internet subscribers.