Nigeria’s active mobile subscriptions declined slightly by 0.07% to 220.71 million in August 2023 from 220.86 million in July 2023, according to new industry data from the Nigerian Communications Commission.

The decline was driven by a decrease of 335,744 subscribers at MTN, the largest operator by subscriber count. Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile all added new subscribers in August.

Despite the slight decline, Nigeria remains Africa’s largest mobile market. The country has a teledensity of 115.63%, meaning there are 115.63 active telephone connections per 100 people residing there.

This is Nigeria’s first decline in mobile subscriber count since March 2023. The largest operator by subscriber count, MTN, saw a 335,744 decline in subscribers, which hurt the industry figures. MTN’s overall number of active subscriptions decreased from 85.3 million in July 2023 to 85 million.

Globacom, which increased its total subscriber count from 61.35 million in July to 61.39 million in August 2023, remained the second-largest operator in subscriber counts.

While 9mobile acquired 36,543 new members, bringing its total active linked lines to 13.79 million, up from 13.75 million in July, Airtel, the third-largest operator by subscriber base, added 85,139 new subscribers in the month under review, reaching 60.1 million from 60 million.

Broadband penetration dropped to 45.57% from 47.01% in July due to the modest reduction in mobile subscribers.

Broadband penetration in Nigeria declined slightly in August, from 47.01% to 45.57%. This is due to the modest reduction in mobile subscribers, as broadband access is often provided through mobile devices.