The four major internet providers – MTN, Airtel, Glo, and 9mobile lost over 1.27 million data subscribers in May 2 2021. This is according to information obtained from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The is a significant decline when compared to the 3.17 million they lost in April 2021 and the 3.55 million subscribers lost in March 2021.
According to the Commission, the total number of mobile subscribers of the four major telecommunications outfits dropped from 141.41 million as of April to 140.13 million by the end of May 2021. The persistent drop in data subscriber base in Nigeria has been attributed to the NIN-SIM ban.
The breakdown showed that Airtel lost a total of 2.84 million data subscribers within the period, as its data subscribers base dropped from 38,956,026 at the beginning of March to 36,120,443 at the end of May 2021. Airtel had a total mobile subscriber base of 51.43 million as of February 2021, but had dropped to 50.03 million at the end of May 2021.
Also, MTN Nigeria lost a total of 2.64 million data subscribers between March 2021 and May. At the end of May 2021, the telco giant had 60,202,402 data subscribers, down from 61,575,323 and 62,843,182 it recorded as at the end of March and February respectively. Between March 2021 and May 2021, the telco giant lost a total of 3.3 million mobile subscribers. This represents a 4.27% reduction in data subscribers. At the end of May 2021, MTN had 74,044,687 mobile subscribers, accounting for 39.7% of the total subscriber base in the country.
Similarly, Globacom and 9mobile recorded drop in data subscribers, as they lost a total of 2.112 million and 415,905 data subscribers respectively within the same period under review.
Apart from the NIN-SIM ban, other factors that led to the drop in data subscribers are pricing, service quality, and the presence of alternative Internet Service Providers (ISP).