Telco Performance in Nigeria -Year 2020

• MTN had the highest number of subscribers from January to December.
• In July, Airtel overtook Globacom as Number 2 in the market.

11 Years of Subscriber Performance

• In 2017, there was a decrease in the total number of subscribers over a ten-year period
• Despite the effect of lockdown in 2020, there was a year-on-year growth from 2019-20.

Growth Rate – Year on Year

• In April, July and September, there was a reduction in growth rate compared to the previous respective months. However, in November and December, there was -0.02% and -1.59% respectively.
• The MTN fine was imposed in December 2015. MTN paid this fine in tranches. The fine appeared to have some impact on subscriber growth as seen above.
• In 2017, there was a decrease in the total number of subscribers over a ten-year period.

Read: The Nigerian Telecommunications Industry – 1 year to the Score

Internet Subscription  

• NCC announced a suspension of SIM sales in December for audit of Subscriber Registration Database.

Porting Activities in 2020  – Monthly Activities

• Porting is when a customer of a Telco leaves to another market player while retaining his/her mobile number.
• Porting was introduced in the Nigerian Telco industry in 2013.

Porting Activities in 2020  – Outgoing vs Incoming

• Lockdown and NCC’s suspension of SIM sales/registration had an effect on porting activities in April and December respectively.

Porting Ratio for Network Operators  

• There are more customers porting out of Glo than there are porting to the network. 9 Mobile (formerly Etisalat Nigeria) has the best porting ratio where for every 1 customer that comes into the network, a third leaves.