GSM subscribers dip to 148.6m in December 2015 – NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday that the total number of GSM subscribers dipped to 148.6 million from 149.7 million in the final quarter of 2015.

This is contained in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector Summary Report for Fourth Quarter and Full year 2015 released by NBS in Abuja. The report said the total number of GSM subscribers rose from 1.48m at the end of 3rd quarter in 2015 to an industry high of 149.7m in November. It said that the number, however, dipped to 148.6m in December 2015.

“This drop in total subscribers was due to a decline in MTN (from 62.4 to 61.2 million) and Etisalat (from 23.4 to 22.1million), while Glo and Airtel witness rise in their number of subscribers. On a year basis, however, number of GSM subscribers rose from 136.6millon in December 2014 to 148.6million in December 2015. MTN, however, still dominated market share by December 2015, “ the report stated.

According to the report, GSM internet subscriptions rose from 97.06 million at the end of 3rd quarter 2015 to 97.5m in November. It explained that it rose to that number before dropping to 97.03 in December 2015 due to a decline in subscriptions in MTN, while all other providers witnessed a rise in their subscriptions. “Porting activities refer to the transfer of subscribers to different network carriers. Therefore, incoming porting activities refer to those subscribers that have joined a network, whilst outgoing porting activities refer to those whom have left.

“2015 was a more active year for porting activities than 2014, total incoming activity increased by 42.88 per cent from 148,652 to 212,401 incoming porters. This was driven to a large extent by Etisalat, who gained 137,466 incoming porters in 2015 compared to 69,364 in 2014, an increase of 98.18 per cent. “ In addition, the report stated that the outgoing activity increased by 50.38 per cent from 145,998 to 219,559 between 2014 and 2015. This increase was driven mainly by MTN, who lost 125,515 porters in 2015 compared to 67,039 in 2014, an increase of 87.23 per cent.

“Airtel also lost substantially more porters in 2015 compared to 2014, 41,527 in 2015 compared to 25,883 in 2014, an increase of 60.44 per cent.

“Across all providers, there are numerous options for tariff plans, each differing according to the overall cost and the services provided. This reflects the fact that there are many facets to the services telecommunications companies provide, such as SMS messaging, local and international calls and data bundles,“ it stated.

According to the report, the variety of options may reflect the telecommunications companies attempting to attract customers with more tailored packages, catering to a wide range of different user needs.  “Tariffs tend to differ according to whether they are on-peak or off-peak, whether the service is to someone on the same network (on-net) or a different one (off-net), and whether they are pre- or post-paid. However, not all networks offer different prices according to these characteristics; for its pre-paid plans, Etisalat offers the same prices for on-net and off-net calls regardless of what bundle is purchased. Airtel do not distinguish between on-peak or off-peak calls.

“As a result of the different options available, whether or not prices are higher or lower than in 2014 largely depends on usage. “ The report, however, cited the example of Airtel 2Good Classic (a particular package offered by Airtel) offered cheaper rates than Airtel Connect (an alternative package), but charges a daily fee of five naira.

“Therefore, the more the line is used, the more it would be worth paying the 5 naira daily fee,“ it stated.