Data War Analysis: Globacom Loses Data Market Share, Over 300,000 Subscribers Stop Using 9mobile Internet Service

MTN Nigeria and Airtel outperformed Globacom and 9mobile in the first five months of 2022, as the telecommunications industry recorded a 4.76 million increase in the number of active data subscribers.

The number of active subscribers for internet services rose 3.08 per cent, according to an analysis of NCC data by Prime Business Africa, to 159.03 million at the end of May 2023, up from the 154.27 million data subscribers the industry closed with last year.

MTN Nigeria – 49.38 per cent

MTN Nigeria accounted for 49.38 per cent of the total data subscribers recorded by the industry between January to May. 

• The Y’ello network gained the highest compared to its industry’s rivals, as 2.35 million internet users subscribed to MTN within five days.
• This increased MTN Nigeria’s data subscriber base by 3.58 per cent during the period in review. The company’s internet users rose to N67.97 million, from 65.61 million.
• Prime Business Africa gathered that the 3.58 per cent increase was enough for MTN Nigeria to close the review period as the network provider with the largest internet subscriber base.
• MTN also increased its internet service market share, based on number of subscribers, to 42.73 per cent, from 42.53 per cent.

Airtel Africa – 43.61 per cent

Airtel followed MTN Nigeria closely, accounting for 43.61 per cent of the total number of subscribers gained by the industry in the review period. 

• The subsidiary of Bharti Airtel saw its data subscriber base rise by 2.07 million or 5.04 per cent, according to findings by PBA.
• Airtel’s data subscriber base closed the month of May with 43.25 million internet users, rising from 41.17 million subscribers reported at the end of last year.
• Although the growth was not enough to change Airtel’s position on the list of network providers with the highest data subscribers, as the firm is ranked behind Globacom.
• Regardless, Airtel managed to raise its market share to 27.19 per cent in June, up from the 26.68 per cent held in December 2022.

Globacom – 13.67 per cent

Globacom didn’t perform so well compared to MTN Nigeria and Airtel, as its share in the total number of data users that subscribed to the industry is 13.67 per cent. 

• This is because Globacom could only attract 651,196 data subscribers, unlike MTN and Airtel which recorded millions of internet users joining their subscriber base.
• Consequently, Globacom’s subscriber base increased slightly by 1.51 per cent from 43.05 million internet users to 43.70 million within five months.
• The slow growth cost Globacom part of its market share, which dropped to 27.47 per cent, from 27.90 per cent, enabling Airtel to close the gap between them.
• Nonetheless, Globacom retained the second spot on the list of network providers with the highest data subscribers.

9mobile

9mobile was the worst-performing network provider in the review period, as 317,978 data subscribers stopped using the company’s internet services. 

• This dropped the total data subscriber base of 9mobile by -7.17 per cent to 4.11 million internet users, failing to surpass the 4.43 million held at the end of 2022.
• As a result of 9mobile’s failure in retaining data subscribers, the company’s market share, hinged on the internet subscriber base, depreciated from 2.87 per cent to 2.58 per cent.
• The poor performance cemented 9mobile in the fourth position on the list of network providers with the highest number of data subscribers.