Nigeria’s active phone lines hit 145.4 million, teledensity now 103.91%

THE nation’s active telephone lines have hit 145.4 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.