Airtel Nigeria Loses over 100,000 Subscribers, 9mobile over 450,000 subscribers in 1 Month

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Despite massive media campaigns over the last few months, Airtel Nigeria lost more than 100,000 subscribers between December 2019 and January 2020.

Source: selfcare.ng.airtel.com

 That means subscribers are not satisfied with their current data network. They either experience a slow network,or not happy with expensive data or poor customer service. It is advisable to know the network in your location with reasonable and fast internet access before subscribing to any data plan.  

Airtel Nigeria woefully lost more than 100,000 subscribers between Dec 2019 and January 2020 despite adopting a unique strategy of using top Nollywood actors for its commercials adverts to appeal to market audience in the country. 9mobile, on the other hand, is losing its subscribers base to other network providers in the country.

Losers in the Telco Market 


According to a report recently released by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Airtel Nigeria accounted for 49.9 million subscribers in January 2020, a slight decline compared to the 50.1 million it had in December last year. Based on the latest report by the NCC, 9mbile is now the highest loser, with its subscriber base declining by over 484,000 in January alone.

9mobile continues to struggle. 


The company, which was formerly known as Etisalat, has been losing its subscribers since a recent change in ownership led to a brand name change. Before January 2020, 9mobile had 13.6 million subscribers in December. That number now stands at 13.1 million. The last time the network provider surpassed 15 million active subscribers was in May last year.

The Gainers of the Telco Market 


Nairametrics quoted the NCC report as showing Globacom’s subscriber-based increased by 55,509 to hit 51.75 million in January, up from 51.70 million in December 2019. It is believed that the surge in Globacom’s subscribers has been its aggressive marketing which has helped it to secure 27.85% of the market share.

Just like Airtel Nigeria, the Mike Adenuga-owned company has been using top celebrities to push for market share. Luckily for Globacom, the expensive media budget has been reflective of its subscriber base.

Unfortunately, the same cannot quite be said for Airtel Nigeria which holds 26.92% of the market. On its part, MTN Nigeria has continued to maintain its position as the leader in the Nigerian telecoms industry.

The company was the biggest gainer in January, having added 1.93 million subscribers to its already existing 68.7 million subscribers as of December. This has, therefore, increased MTN’s total active subscribers to 70.6 million in January 2020.

Data War Changes Everything 


While Globacom is ahead of Airtel Nigeria in total subscribers, Airtel Nigeria is the second highest in terms of data; right behind MTN Nigeria. Airtel Nigeria’s data subscribers increased to 35.5 million in January from 34.5 million.

Glo keeps losing subscribers in terms of data subscription because of its epileptic slow network in most locations.

Airtel, on the other hand, keeps gaining customers in terms of data subscription because of its network speed when browsing.

MTN Nigeria otherwise known as the big boy’s network has continued to maintain the lead in both total actives subscribes and data subscribers. The magic of MTN data subscription is in its app as you’ll be given double of the data you are buying.

For 9mobile, the case is different as the telco continues to decline.

The company’s total data subscriber base dropped from 8.06 million in December to 8.04 million in January.

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