As seen in new industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telco owned by billionaire –Mike Adenuga, dropped from 52,918,718 subscribers in March to 50,598,855 in April, which is about 2 million.

In a similar vein, MTN Nigeria lost about 1 million subscribers having dropped from 75,927,231 in March to 74,819,864 in April. Also, both 9mobile and Airtel lost less than 500,000 subscribers together, with the former dropping from 12,850,383 in March to 12,779,155 in April, and the latter (Airtel) dropped from 50,384,950 in March to 50,177,408 in April.

Below is the reason…

It would be recalled that last year’s (2020) December, the NCC halted the registration and sale of new SIM cards in the country. This move, according to the commission, was for people to link their National Identity Number (NIN) with their SIM cards.

Although, the ban had been lifted, the loss of subscribers by the telcos might not be unconnected to the ban.

Speaking on this development, a telecom expert, in an interview, stated: “The impact of the SIM-NIN policy will slow down growth. The NIN requirement will slow down the ability to register SIMs legally because not every Nigerian has NIN.”

READ ALSO: MTN Loses Subscribers To Rivals, Here’s Why

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Recall that the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami,  gave a directive to immediately suspend the sale and activation of new SIM cards in order to allow another audit of the Subscriber Registration Database.

According to him, the directive was to ensure that operators complied with quality standards and requirements of SIM registration.

While some stakeholders commended the effort of the regulators, some Nigerians have ruled against the development stating that the regulator did not consider the effect of such action on small businesses and upcoming businesses that would need an assigned phone number.

Corroborating the development, the President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Ikechukwu Nnamani, said that the suspension was temporary and would not affect network operators.

He said: “There has been evidence that kidnappers use pre-registered SIM cards that did not go through the traditional Know-Your-Customer registration process. What is going on is an attempt to ensure the right processes are in place, The regulator is trying to ensure there were no pre-registered SIM cards in circulation use to commit fraud and other crimes”

Also, the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, stressed that the mobile network is following the directive of the commission.

However One, Eze Victor Uwaezuoke, on Facebook,who ruled out the suspension said the directive would affect new businesses that planned to have a dedicated mobile number.

He said:“So if there’s business that has just been registered and needs a dedicated line, they would have to wait for you to audit firstly. Does bank audit cease issuance of new accounts?

In the same vein, another Nigerian identified as NextChallenge stated that there was no need to suspend SIM registration process in order to carry out an audit.

He said: “Why must this government choose hard impact instead of intelligence in dealing with simple issues? Audit should be a continuous.”

Subscriber Registration Database audit, a welcome development?

Asides from the fact that the audit would help to centralize the achievement of the SIM Card registration exercise, it will also ensure strict adherence to set quality standards and requirements by mobile network operators.

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In a statement gathered by Unmask NG, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami said the reduction was made due to the report submitted by the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC).

The statement partly read: “The average cost of 1GB of data has reduced from the January 2020 cost of N1,000 to N487.18 in November, 2020.

“This was based on a report submitted by the Nigerian Communications Commission to the minister (Pantami) following the implementation of the directives.

“The government had inaugurated a committee that developed the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) on December 16, 2019. The plan, which was launched by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in March 2020, aimed to reduce the average cost of 1GB data to a maximum of N390 by 2025.

 “Policies are in place to ensure that operators adopt competitive pricing that eschews unjustifiable margins. The general public may also wish to note that complaints about rapid data depletion are also being investigated.”

While speaking on the reduction of data, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Umar Garba Danbatta maintained that Commission will continue to work towards the reduction in cost of data.

His words: “NCC is already working hard to address their concerns. We did our benchmarking recently and we discovered that the cost of 1 Gigabyte of data has come down below N500, which represents 50 per cent reduction from what it used to be.

“There is however a target to reduce data cost to N390/Gigabyte by the year 2025 and we are almost there. The target, as enshrined in the National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) is to achieve N390/Gigabyte in the cost of data by the end of 2025, but the recent benchmarking that the NCC did, showed that the cost of data has reduced to more than 50 per cent from what it used to be at the beginning of 2020.

“For us as industry regulator, this is a good sign that data cost is coming down and that the issue data depletion as experienced by subscribers, is gradually been addressed.”

What this means

It is generally believed that the reason why internet subscribers complain of data plans and subscription consuming faster than the intended lifespan is because there is absolutely no regulation that ensures that the promised amount data is delivered.
Now, it is hoped that with new reduction of data price, Nigerians will enjoy data at a low cost.

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Recall that in September,MTN’s grip in the telecommunications market slacked as its market share dropped from 40.90% to 40.30%.

While MTN was losing subscribers, its closest rival, Airtel, continue to grow its subscriber base by over 483,000 subscribers. This means that Airtel was gaining more than the number MTN lost within the same period.

Airtel Network rose from 54.7 million in August to 55.2 million in September, to close the gap between Airtel and MTN.

According to Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Glo Network recorded an increase in its subscriber base, which rose from 52,9 million to 54.2 million in September, Glo Network recorded in August; reflecting an addition of 1.3 million, meaning Glo Network recorded the highest voice subscriber growth.

Surprisingly, 9mobile Network which has been struggling to gain subscribers five months ago, also recorded voice subscriber growth, after its subscriber base rose from the 12.3 million to 12.7 million in September, rising by 351,600 gain.

Meanwhile, the loss of subscriber which was recorded in MTN’s voice (telephone) subscriber base, fell by 448,000 with 82.6 million subscribers, this is below the initial 83.08m it recorded in August.

What this means

Indeed, the past few month hasn’t been a good one for MTN, as the company made efforts to win its competitors Airtel and Glo Network in the data war.

While MTN couldn’t keep its subscriber base from reducing, its rivals’ Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile have gained more subscribers within the same month.

In this torrid period, note that the Subscribers dumping MTN may cost the company its market share within the Nigerian market.

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Speaking at a Tech forum themed “Multi-stakeholder approach to National Recovery post-pandemic,” the Executive Vice President, Prof Umar Danbatta explained that the government has initiated a policy that would drive the deployment of the technology.

Danbatta asserted that the economic benefits of 5G to Nigeria post pandemic would be huge as most business owners and activities of government are migrating and offering their services online.

According to him, the network will stimulate a new kind of network for Nigerians to connect to everyone and everything including objects, devices and machines.

He said that the technology will hasten the adoption of internet of Things and Artificial applications.

“Nigeria’s vibrant youth population stand to benefit immensely from the  deployment of 5G network as it will offer Techpreneurs, Tech enthusiast, SMEs  and tech start-ups the platform to expand and connect with other global players around the world on a scale that has never been witnessed before.”

Also, Danbatta added that the technology would have a massive impact than other previous network generations.

“The tech supports a wide range of industries and potentially enabling up to $13.2tn worth of goods and services.”

The Director, Technical Standards, and NETWORK at NCC, Bako Wakil, who represented the EVC assured that the commission will engage in an environmental impact analysis on the use of 5G and the electromagnetic fields impacts on humans in Nigeria.

“Once this is done, Nigeria can safely utilize and reap all the economic, human and material benefits of 5G network.”

Meanwhile, the Global System for Mobile Communication Association has foreseen seven different countries including Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa utilising the commercial 5G network by 2025.

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