The year 2018 has been an interesting year for the telecoms industry with a total GSM subscriber base of near 162 million, according to the NCC. Here are the major highlights:
One of the only four players—Etisalat—shut down and was overtaken by 9Mobile. Since September 2017, their total number of subscribers has been on an average decline of 2.8% Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ). In September 2018, NCC reported their subscriber base to be just a little above 15 million, which is less than half of Glo’s (in third place) subscriber base. Year-on-Year (YoY), they fell by 10.75%.
Note: For this article, YoY is calculated from September 2017 to September 2018.
Meanwhile, Globacom “Glo” Limited lost its second place position to Airtel Nigeria even though they (Glo) grew by 9.39% YoY to 40.85 million. Glo would probably have grown faster if their network connection or coverage was more reliable. A random sampling of Glo users shows that they are in an “abusive relationship” with the telco. Glo has now become the default for bad internet connection on social media.
The sectors largest player—MTN Nigeria Communications—suffered several regulatory troubles and reputational damage in the second half of the year. For instance, in Q3 (August) 2018, MTN was ordered to refund (fined) $8.1 billion (~₦3 trillion) following claims that the company had illegally repatriated funds. As such, the number of their subscribers dropped by more than 2 million between June and September to about 64 million which is a QoQ decline of about 3.5%. This drop could mean that a lot of MTN users ported to other networks. Yet thanks to a good run from September 2017 to March 2018, they recorded YoY growth of 27.54%, the highest in the sector.
The most consistent player—Airtel Nigeria—grew their subscriber base to 41.3 million a growth rate of 19.31% YoY. All through the quarters in the year, they recorded a growth, averaging about 3.5% making them our most consistent network for the year in question.
This jump has made them the second most subscribed network as of September 2018 leading Glo by almost 500,000 subscribers. Their engaging advertisements, affordable and more reliable data plans can be thanked for this growth.
In a few weeks, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) should release the stats for December 2018.
Do you think Airtel would continue its rise to the top? Or would Glo regain its position?
So far, MTN and Airtel’s growth seems unstoppable as they attempt to do mobile money in the country through the license of a Payment Service Bank.