Active Voice Subscribers Exceed 224m In Q4 2023, Says NBS

By InsideBusiness Last updated Feb 24, 2024

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday said the total number of active voice subscribers was 224,713,710 in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2023 from 222,571,568 recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

This is an increase of 0.96 per cent and on a quarter-on-quarter basis, this rose by 1.32 per cent.

The bureau revealed that in the period under review, the total number of active internet subscribers stood at 163,838,439 from 154,847,901 reported in Q4 2022, showing an increase of 5.81 per cent. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, this grew by 2.29 per cent.

According to the report, Lagos state had the highest number of active voice subscribers in Q4 2023 with 26, 739,346, followed by Ogun with 13,070,779 and Kano with 12,325,633.

“On the other hand, Bayelsa still recorded the least with 1,557,786, followed by Zamfara and Gombe with 2,772,424 and 2,785,030 respectively,” the report revealed.

It added that Lagos state had the highest number of active internet subscribers in Q4 2023 with 18,927,446, followed by Ogun with 9,570,463 and Kano with 9,031,581.

“Likewise, Bayelsa recorded the least active internet subscribers with 1,193,525, followed by Zamfara and Gombe with 1,959,252 and 2,100,073 respectively. However, MTN maintains its status as the telecommunication service provider with the highest share of subscriptions in Q4 2023,” the NBS report disclosed.

NBS revealed 2,729 subscribers ported in among the major networks, with MTN and Airtel Africa reporting the highest in the period under review.

A total of 1,661 and 795 voice subscribers ported in on MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa in Q4 2024, respectively. Globacom had 196 ported-in customers and 9mobile, 77.

The report disclosed that 2,729 customers ported out with 9mobile, 2,059; MTN, 177; Globacom, 276 and Airtel, 217.