Afrigather New information from the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) exhibits that Globacom, the Nigerian telecoms firm that was shut out of emails and work purposes after a ransomware assault, has misplaced vital market share.
The NCC reviewed subscriber information and located that Globacom telco had solely 19.1 million lively subscribers in September 2024, a major decline from the 62.1 million subscribers it recorded in March 2024.
The steep decline got here after the NCC adjusted subscriber figures to exclude customers with no revenue-generating exercise or inactive traces for 90 days. In consequence, complete lively subscriptions in Nigeria dropped from 217 million in March 2024 to 154 million in September, in response to NCC information.
The NCC’s revised tips classify lively subscribers as these participating in revenue-generating actions, comparable to SMS, USSD, voice calls, or information utilization. Company and particular person information plan customers additionally fall beneath this class. Underneath these 2021 guidelines, SIMs with out a verified Nationwide Identification Quantity (NIN) can not stay lively. Verified subscribers should use their line not less than as soon as inside a 90-day window to be thought of lively.
“Even in the event you don’t make a name however obtain one, the operator earns income, so your line is counted as lively. Any qualifying exercise inside 90 days of activating a SIM makes it RG (revenue-generating),” mentioned an NCC consultant who requested to not be named.
Regardless of the regulator’s clear directives, all main telcos appeared to have engaged in spurious counting, “instantly violating the Fee’s tips for figuring out lively subscribers, leading to an inflated report of the operator’s subscriber rely and skewing trade statistics,” one NCC insider informed TechCabal.
Globacom didn’t instantly reply to a request for feedback.
The massive-scale evaluation by the NCC delayed the discharge of month-to-month trade statistics.
Following that evaluation, Globacom was the toughest hit, with 40 million inactive subscribers deleted from its general subscriber rely and shrinking its market share. Airtel additionally noticed round 9 million inactive subscribers eliminated however retained 53 million customers.
Not too long ago acquired 9mobile additionally skilled a considerable decline and now has 3.6 million lively customers.
Market chief MTN Nigeria noticed little influence, with lower than 3 million inactive customers. The telco maintains 78 million subscribers and has a 50.50% market share, up from 38% in March.
