Latest figures released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) revealed that the number of Internet users in Nigeria declined by 26,081.
According to NCC’s latest figures, internet users in the country stood at 90,003,101 in March as contained in the NCC’s Monthly Internet Subscribers Data for March released on Monday in Lagos.
A breakdown of the figures showed that internet users on both Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks dropped from 90,029,182 in February to 90,003,101 in March.
Out of the 90,003,101 internet users in March, 89,972,792 were GSM subscribers while 30,309 users were on CDMA networks. The report showed that GSM service providers lost 26,081 internet customers after recording 89,972,792 users in March, as against 89,998,873 it recorded in February. CDMA operators on the other hand retained 30,309 internet subscribers in March as recorded in February 2017.
MTN still dominates the market with 30,519,351 internet subscribers and recording an increase of 218,646 internet subscribers in March, after recording 30,300,705 in February. Globacom also recorded a surge in internet subscribers ending the month of March with 27,021,200 subscribers – an increase of 88,715 from 26,932,485 in February.
Airtel on the other hand lost almost 45,000 subscribers ending the month with 19.468 million internet users in February to 19.423 million in March. Etisalat also lost subscribers with 13,008,481 customers in March, revealing a decrease of 288,518 users from the 13,296,999 users recorded in February.
The data also showed that CDMA operators, Multi-Links and Visafone had a joint total of 30,309 internet users on their networks in March, maintaining the same record of February. According to the data, Visafone has 30,305 customers surfing the internet in March, while Multi-Links has just four internet users.
Well, I guess the first reason for this sudden drop is due to the recession in the country.
Secondly, most of these Network providers are not doing their best in ensuring that their network becomes the best, in terms of speed and reliability.
Thirdly, we’re still paying too much for Internet usage in Nigeria. This is quite discouraging.