Nigerian telecos record fresh 2.99m subscriptions

Operators in the Nigerian telecoms sector have recorded 2.99 million new subscriptions on their networks.

The development, which represents a growth of 1.27 per cent, was recorded in January. Total subscriptions in the sector now stand at 238.59 million from 235.60 million at the end of 2016.

The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), in its latest industry statistics, further indicated that out of the total registered telephone lines in the country, 155.07 million or 64.99 per cent are active, leaving the rest 83.52 million or 35.01 per cent dormant.

However, the CDMA wing of the sector has continued falling due to the increasing preference for the GSM service, especially, in the country and remained unchanged at 3.586 million December, 2016 and January this year.

The President, Association of Telecommunications Companies in Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, remarked: GSM technology is the dominant technology in a majority of African countries and Nigeria follows this trend.”

The latest figures by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on the contribution of the telecoms sector indicated that more telecom services are being utilized across all sectors in the economy.

Revealing that the sector contributed N1.399 billion to Nigeria GDP in fourth quarter 2016, it further demonstrated the acceptance of ‘telecoms’ as being the enabler for an improved and efficient means of doing business, living good lives and interacting within communities.