The total volume of data consumed by Nigerian subscribers increased by 50 per cent to 68,154.12 terabytes in December 2018, a report by the Nigerian Communications Commission has shown. According to the NCC’s 2018 Subscribers/ network data report, the country consumed 45,450.26TB of data in December 2017.
The statistics showed that as of December 2018, the total active Internet subscriptions for the mobile segment was 112.06 million reflecting a 7.2 per cent increase from 98.69 million reported in December 2017. Three of the four major GSM operators reported growth in subscription between December 2017 and December 2018.
Subscribers to Airtel Internet services grew by 24.1 per cent; MTN subscribers rose by 21.7 per cent and Globacom Internet users grew by 3.9 per cent. However, 9mobile’s Internet subscription declined by 1.38 per cent during the 12 months under review. The regulator attributed declined subscription on the 9mobile network to low gross sales experienced within the year.
The mobile market segment, according to NCC, accounted for 111.63 million of the total active mobile Internet subscriptions as of December 2018. The broadband penetration figure as of December 2018 stood at 31.48 per cent with total active 3G subscriptions at 47.33 million and 4G at 12.76 million.
The data showed that tele-density increased from 103.61 per cent in December 2017 to 123.48 per cent in December 2018. It noted that a consistent growth of 0.4 per cent in tele-density from December 2016 to January 2017 and then a continuous decline until September 2017.
The report explained that the decline was recorded across all technologies (Mobile GSM, Mobile CDMA, Fixed Wired/Wireless and VoIP) and was attributed to poor electricity, poor coverage, militancy and multiple taxations in certain areas. The reasons for the decline in tele-density, according to NCC, included national power/electricity supply issue that caused operators constraints in powering BTS thereby reducing the number of added subscriptions.
The regulator said operators were also discouraged from expanding coverage and improving the network in some areas in the country because of militancy activities and multiple taxations. Punch
Pix: Internet users in Nigeria
