Mobile network operator (MNO) 9mobile, which recently rebranded to T2, recorded its first gain of the year in July as it added 290,601 new subscribers in the month, spurred by its recent infrastructure sharing deal with the largest mobile network operator, MTN Nigeria.
This came as the first monthly subscriber gain in nearly a year for the carrier that had experienced steady decline in its customer base over the years due to obsolete network equipment that took toll on its service quality.
For July, T2 also emerged as the only operator out of the four MNOs that gained subscribers in a month that saw MTN, Airtel, and Globacom shed weight.
During the period under review, active mobile subscriptions dipped to 169.1 million from 171.5 million recorded in June this year.
The decline was driven by the losses recorded by the three MNOs but most significantly by Airtel, which lost 2.4 million subscriptions in the month.
The telco’s active subscriptions plunged to 56.5 million in July from 58.9 million it recorded in June.
MTN also lost 106,345 subscribers in the month, which brought its database to 89.1 million in July, while Globacom’s subscriptions declined by 143,701 to 20.7 million.
MTN remained the dominant player in the market with 52.70per cent of the market share, while maintained the second position with 33.42per cent share.
Globacom’s market share stood at 12.26per cent, while 9mobile’s maintained its distant 4th position despite the gains recorded with 1.61per cent of the market share.
With the decline in actively connected lines recorded by the operators, the country’s teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living within an area, also declined to 78.11per cent in July from 79.22per cent recorded in June.
According to NCC, the teledensity is calculated based on a population estimate of 216 million.
It would be recalled that on July 3rd, 9mobile (as it then was known) and MTN Nigeria officially announced a national roaming deal approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The deal allows customers of 9mobile will be able to access network service anywhere MTN’s network is available across the country.
Prior to the deal, the operator had suffered huge subscriber loss as its network deteriorated due to lack of fund to build infrastructure.
With the national roaming deal, 9mobile subscribers will now be able to make calls, send SMS, and access data through MTN Nigeria’s infrastructure in areas where 9mobile’s network doesn’t exist or is unreliable, enabling the telco’s sustainability.
Instead of building out its own infrastructure, which is capital-intensive, 9mobile can now plug directly into MTN’s far-reaching network.
The deal marked a game-changing move for the two telecom operators and a giant leap toward broader network coverage and digital inclusion in Nigeria.
