The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed that the country’s internet subscribers rose to 140.41 million in November 2021.
This was disclosed by the commission in a recent update of industry statistics posted on its website.
Of the total figure, mobile (GSM) accounted for 140.06 million subscribers — leaving Fixed Wire and VoIP for the remaining subscribers.
According to the data, the total number of active mobile (GSM) internet subscribers increased to 140.06 million at the end of November 2021 — after recording the lowest in June 2021 at 139.81 million.
In December 2020, the federal government directed telecommunications companies to suspend the sales and reactivation of new SIM cards.
The policy denied new entrants into the country access to purchase mobile lines while existing users who want to retrieve their lost lines were not allowed access.
The government had premised the decision on the audit of the subscriber registration database in the country at the height of security challenges – banditry and kidnapping.
By the end of the first quarter of 2021, the policy had stifled the telecoms industry with single-digit growth.
The regulatory restrictions impacted the operations of telcos, posting declines in mobile subscriptions and revenue.
The government, however, lifted the ban in April but mandated the use of national identification numbers (NINs) for the issuance of new SIM cards.