NBS: Telecoms Subscriber Base Hit over 162m in Q2

The total number of active voice subscribers in the telecommunications industry rose by 0.09 per cent to 162,522,772 subscribers in the second quarter of the year (Q2 2018) compared to the149,309,815 subscribers in the preceding quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated yesterday.

Also, a total of 103,514,997 subscribers were active on internet in Q2 compared to 100,923,580 in Q1 2018, representing 2.57 per cent growth in subscriber base.

The statistical agency, in its Telecoms Data report for Q2 which was posted on its website, further noted that Lagos State had the highest number of subscribers in terms of active voice per State in the period under review, closely followed by Ogun and Kano States, respectively, while Bayelsa and Ebonyi States had the least number of subscribers.

Similarly, NBS stated that Lagos had the highest number of subscribers in terms of active internet per State, closely followed by Ogun and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) respectively, while Bayelsa and Ebonyi States had the least number of subscribers.

MTN had the highest share of voice subscription with 66.45 million subscriber; GLO, 39.88 million; AIRTEL, 39.73 million; EMTS, 16.01 million and others, 447,654

MTN also had the highest share of internet subscription at 39.19 million subscribers, followed by GLO, 27.20 million AIRTEL,25.95 million; EMTS, 10.80 and others, 362,271.

Also, a total of 38,035 subscribers engaged in porting activities in the review period.

That in a way suggested users were seeking better quality services amid a terrifying service experience on all the networks in recent times.

On MTN, a total of 5,273 subscribers entered the network from other service providers while 3,079 dumped the network.

Glo had 3,079 joined cross over from other operators while 5,443 ported-out.

Airtel received 4,547 users, but lost 5, 833 subscribers while Etisalat has 5,317 users joined the network while 5,155 subscribers ported-out.