According to new industry statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission, 6.18 million Global System for Mobile Communications subscribers joined the national network between January and April this year.
The number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants within all areas in Nigeria also increased to 105.65 percent (201.67 million subscriptions) in April.
This follows the growth in the GSM subscriber base of the nation that began in June 2021 after the SIM-NIN verification exercise led to the loss of subscribers from December 2020 to May 2021.
Commenting on the growth, a source in one of the telecommunication firms said the growth in the nation’s subscribers could be attributed to the growth of telecommunication service offerings and irregularities in the National Identification Number – Subscriber Identity Module registrations.
The source said, “You could look at the new services that are being layered with telecom services like financial services. Mobile banking and the rest, these new layered services could be factors motivating this growth.
“Also, with NIN and SIM registration, some people who cannot find their details for their old lines are buying new SIMs. Some people inherited lines that they cannot presently link, and many of them are buying new SIMs.
“Also, there is a new demand for telecom services. For instance, all the students that did JAMB had a lot tied to their SIMs. And as more students need these services even parents who do not originally want to buy SIMs for their children now have to.
“Our phones are becoming more integral to our lives and people need communication services more now.”
