Data War: How Airtel Outperformed Glo, But Unable To Overthrow MTN

Airtel Nigeria outperformed Globacom in July after it secured more Nigerian subscribers than Glo, increasing its market share. Airtel Nigeria gained more data subscribers to unseat Glo and become the second network provider with the highest data and voice subscribers behind MTN Nigeria.

Data War: Airtel Dethrone Glo, But Unable To Unseat MTN

Globacom has lost its second position in the data war to Airtel Nigeria as the Bharti subsidiary gained more subscribers than Glo in July. Airtel Nigeria surpassed Glo to climb over a 39 million subscriber base after gaining 1.4 million subscribers in the month of July. Airtel had ended June with 37.5 million.

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In June, Glo topped Airtel Nigeria with 37.9 million, but the Wale Adenuga-owned telecommunications company gained fewer subscribers in July when compared to Airtel Nigeria, as Glo recorded over 280,000 subscribers to reach 38.2 million, thereby falling behind Airtel Nigeria to secure the third position on the data war chart.

Surprisingly, 9mobile gained for the first time in over a year after it gained over 43,000 subscribers to hit over 7.1 million in July, rising from the 7 million of June, to sustain its fourth position, AllNews gathered from a report of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

MTN Nigeria maintained its leadership position in the data war as it secured over 1.6 million subscribers in the month of July, increasing its subscriber base from 60.6 million in June to 62.2 million in July. In total, the whole industry contributed 146.7 million data subscribers, rising from the 143.2 million subscribers in June.

Battle In The Telephony/Voice Subscriber Market

9mobile continued its surprising July surge in the voice market as its subscriber figures rose to 12.16 million from the 12.11 million it recorded in June, after gaining over 51,600 subscribers, but the subscriber growth was not enough for 9mobile to move from the fourth position on the chart.

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Globacom failed to continue its run ahead of Airtel Nigeria as it could only gain about 167,800 subscribers to reach 52.7 million in July, rising from 52.5 million which it recorded in June. This led to Glo declining on the chart of network with the highest telephone subscribers or voice users.

Airtel Nigeria had a good outing in July as it surpassed Glo to account for the second-highest telephone subscribers in Nigeria. Airtel Nigeria gained 1.2 million subscribers in July, to hit over 53.7 million, surpassing the 52.4 million it ended June with, and rank behind MTN Nigeria.

MTN Nigeria remained the network provider with the highest voice users after gaining 1.5 million in July to reach 80.3 million, rising from the 78.7 million it ended June with. In total, the industry has 198.9 million telephone subscribers in July, rising from the 195.9 million it recorded in June.