Nigerian telecoms giant Globacom has seen a drastic reduction in its active subscriber base following an adjustment by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). According to the latest data from September 2024, Globacom now has only 19.1 million active subscribers, a steep drop from the 62.1 million reported in March 2024.
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The decline comes after the NCC revised its guidelines to only count subscribers engaging in revenue-generating activities within a 90-day window as active. This includes activities like SMS, USSD, voice calls, data usage, and having a verified National Identification Number (NIN) linked to the SIM.
An NCC representative explained, “Even if you don’t make a call but receive one, the operator earns revenue, so your line is counted as active. Any qualifying activity within 90 days of activating a SIM makes it revenue-generating.”
The review, which delayed the release of monthly industry statistics, revealed that leading telcos had been engaging in spurious counting practices that inflated subscriber numbers. An NCC insider stated that this “directly violated the Commission’s guidelines for identifying active subscribers, resulting in an inflated report of the operator’s subscriber count and skewing industry statistics.”
Globacom was the most severely impacted, losing 40 million inactive subscribers and significant market share. Airtel also had around 9 million inactive subscribers removed but maintained a base of 53 million users. Newly acquired 9mobile experienced a substantial decline as well, now reporting 3.6 million active users.
Market leader MTN Nigeria remained relatively unaffected, losing less than 3 million inactive users. The telco now boasts 78 million subscribers and a commanding 50.50% market share, up from 38% in March.
The total number of active subscriptions in Nigeria has fallen from 217 million in March 2024 to 154 million in September following the NCC’s adjustments. Globacom did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the significant drop in its subscriber base.
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