Nigeria’s telecom sector registered 306.7m subscribers in 2023

Joy Agwunobi

By the end of 2023, mobile network operators (MNOs) in Nigeria had registered over 306.7 million subscribers under the mandatory SIM card registration scheme, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

This record highlights the telecommunications sector’s consistent growth, driven by regulatory reforms, increased investments, and the adoption of advanced technologies since the industry’s liberalisation.

The NCC’s 2023 year-end performance report detailed that MNOs registered a total of 306,725,380 subscribers across the country, adhering to the commission’s SIM card registration mandate. The comprehensive report provides valuable insights into the performance of Nigeria’s telecommunications sector in 2023, highlighting growth areas, challenges, and market dynamics.

The breakdown of this figure across operators revealed that MTN Nigeria accounted for 126,072,111 subscribers, Globacom (Glo) registered 70,485,301, Airtel Nigeria had 62,960,003, 9mobile recorded 46,229,944, Smile Communications tallied 740,158, and Ntel had 237,863 subscribers.

In terms of market share, the commission reported that MTN dominated with 38.79 per cent  (87,038,768 subscribers), followed by Airtel with 27.55 per cent (61,834,105), Glo with 27.45 per cent  (61,604,576), and 9mobile with 6.21 per cent  (13,935,482) of the mobile GSM market as of December 2023.

Beyond SIM card registration, the NCC reported a 0.96 per cent  year-on-year growth in active subscriptions. Active voice subscriptions increased from 222,571,568 in 2022 to 224,713,710 in December 2023, a rise of 2,142,142 subscriptions. The NCC attributed this growth to factors such as subscriber loyalty, promotional campaigns, aggressive customer acquisition strategies, and competitive product offerings across networks.

Nigeria’s teledensity, however, dropped from 116.60 per cent  in December 2022 to 103.66 per cent by the end of 2023, reflecting an 11.10 per cent  decline. The NCC explained this reduction was due to the revised population figure of 216,783,381 provided by the National Population Commission (NPC) for 2022, replacing the 2017 projection of 190 million previously used in calculations.

The report further noted an increase in internet subscriptions, which grew from 154,847,901 in December 2022 to 163,838,439 in December 2023, representing a 5.81 per cent  rise and an additional 8,990,538 subscriptions. Despite this growth, broadband penetration declined from 47.36 per cent  in December 2022 to 43.71 per cent  by December 2023. The NCC explained that this drop was also linked to the revised population figures. However, broadband subscriptions increased from 90,398,960 to 94,757,184 during the same period.

Prepaid mobile voice subscriptions, which dominate the Nigerian market, grew by 0.84 per cent , increasing from 215,345,361 in December 2022 to 217,143,995 in December 2023. Postpaid mobile voice subscriptions saw a growth rate of 4.61per cent , rising from 7,129,211 to 7,457,744.

The NCC noted that prepaid subscribers accounted for about 96.7 per cent  of the market, while postpaid subscribers represented approximately 3.3 per cent.

Regionally, the data showed the Southwest and North Central zones had the highest number of active voice subscriptions, while the Southeast recorded the least. The breakdown revealed that the Southwest had 63,946,830 subscriptions (28%), the North Central had 43,797,767 (19%), the Northwest had 40,978,174 (18%), the South-South had 33,034,092 (15%), the Northeast had 21,493,698 (10%), and the Southeast recorded 21,463,149 (10%).

In terms of local and national telephone traffic, the NCC reported that by December 2023, total outgoing traffic was 205.3 billion minutes, while incoming traffic totaled 203.2 billion minutes. MTN recorded the highest outgoing and incoming traffic at 122.7 billion and 123.8 billion minutes, respectively.

For international traffic,the regulatory body reported that  total outgoing mobile and VoIP traffic was 536.1 million minutes, while incoming international traffic reached 998.2 million minutes. Airtel accounted for the highest outgoing international traffic at 255.7 million minutes, while MTN reported the highest incoming international traffic at 578.9 million minutes.

Additionally, mobile-to-mobile voice call traffic  as at December  2023 showed outgoing minutes totaling 172.8 billion, while incoming minutes stood at 124.0 billion. MTN once again led in both categories, with outgoing traffic of 123.2 billion minutes and incoming traffic of 80.6 billion minutes.