THE nation's active telephone lines have hit 145.4 million, with the country's teledensity now 103.9 per cent, according to the late...
million, with the country's teledensity now 103.9 per
cent, according to the latest subscriber statistics
just released by the Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC).
The 145.4 million represented the total active
mobile subscriptions on all mobile networks in the
country, including the Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple
Access (CDMA) and fixed wired/wireless operators
in the country.
According to the statistics, Nigeria telecoms market
achieved 139.1 million active telephone
subscriptions by the end of December 2014 with a
teledensity of 99.39 per cent.
The growth in mobile subscription in the Africa's
largest telecoms market has further increased to
140.8 million in January this year, 142.5 million in
February and 143.9 million and 145.4 million active
mobile subscriptions, according to the
commission's report.
Teledensity moved from 99.39 percent in December last year to 100.56 per cent in January this year. By February, March and end of April, the figure increased to 101.85 per cent; 102.81 per cent and 103.91 per cent
respectively.
In terms of market share by technologies, analysis
of the data showed that, of the 145.4 million mobile,
GSM operators, including MTN, Globacom, Airtel
and Etisalat hold 143 million, the CDMA, a market
segment led by Visafone, controls 2.2 million lines
while fixed line operators recorded 184,790 active
lines. The NCC data also provided the latest total
connected telephone lines in the country, aside the
active lines.
According to the data, the number of connected
telephone lines in the country is now put at 196.9
million at the end of April, of which 145.4 million
are active lines.
The total industry-connected telephone lines rose
from 192.1 million in January this year but fell by
close to 1.5 million to 190.5 million in February and
by end of first quarter ending March, the figure
rose again to 194.5 million. In April, it stood at
196.9 million.
Nigeria's telecoms subscriber base has grown
significantly since 2001, when the country
liberalized the telecoms market, paving the way for
different players to come into the sector.
From around 500,000 connected mobile phones 14
years ago, the sector has grown in leaps and
bounds, reaching over 145 million active lines,
according to the NCC data.
The telecommunications sector has grown its
investment by about 6300 per cent to over $32
billion in 2014 from $500 million in 2011.
