MTN Nigeria, a telecom major, has seen a dramatic reduction in internet subscribers. In January, almost 2.8 million subscribers left the MTN network, the worst loss since May 2023. The telecom behemoth now has 67.8 million subscribers, down from 70.6 million in December.
The reduction in MTN Nigeria’s internet subscribers might be ascribed to the company’s efforts to comply with the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) order to link all SIM cards with a National Identity Number. This legislation, which aimed to improve security and reduce fraudulent operations, compelled telecom operators to deregister all phone lines that did not have a NIN or had unverified NINs.
Despite MTN’s large impact, other carriers’ growth helped to cushion the overall industry results. Airtel, Nigeria’s second-largest internet service provider, added 890,935 users in January, bringing the total to 45.9 million. Similarly, Globacom added 192,313 customers, bringing the total to 44.1 million.
MTN Nigeria’s history of regulatory fines, including a $5.2 billion penalty in 2015 for failing to delete unregistered SIM cards, highlights the company’s urgency in responding to the NCC’s demand. The telecom provider began complying very immediately after the directive was published, and it ran many advertisements encouraging consumers to update or register their NIN.
The initial deadline for termination of unlinked lines was March 29, 2024, however the NCC has extended it until July 31, 2024. This extension provides a reprieve for both subscribers and operators, giving them more time to comply and potentially reducing future subscriber losses.
The fall in MTN Nigeria’s internet users is an important event in the country’s telecom market, underscoring the difficulties operators confront when combining regulatory compliance with customer retention. As the deadline approaches, it would be interesting to observe how MTN Nigeria and other providers deal with these problems, and whether MTN can recover from its historic customer loss.
