Nigeria’s Telco Industry in Q1 2021 – Did the SIM Swap Deadline Lead to a Drop in Subscribers?

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Why We L👀ked Into This »🎨 The government had just taken a major decision in the Telecommunications industry with the SIM swap deadline, how much effect was this on the industry?

 

• On December 9, 2020, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) embarked on another audit of the Subscriber Registration Database. This announcement led to the suspension of registration and sale of SIM cards by operators which was later lifted on April 19, 2021 with some new guidelines.
• From December 2020 to March 2021, there was a constant decrease in the number of GSM subscribers in Nigeria.
• Subscriber numbers dropped to ~192 million, a number close to March 2020 figures. Airtel had the biggest drop in customers by 9%, followed by MTN (6%), Globacom (4%) and 9mobile(1%) from December 2020 to March 2021. Airtel lost ~5.2m customers, MTN – ~4.8m customers, Globacom – ~1.9m customers and 9mobile – ~131k
• The telecommunications industry is one of the major contributors to Nigeria’s GDP.

 

• View Telco Performance in Nigeria – Year 2020 and The Nigerian Telecommunications Industry – 1 year to the Score.