Nigerians Dump MTN, As Over 400,000 Subscribers Leave Network In One Month For Rivals

Over 400,000 Nigerian subscribers dumped MTN Nigeria in one month as the y'ello company suffered its biggest loss in recent years. While MTN couldn't keep its subscriber base from depleting, its rivals' Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile gained more subscribers within the same month.

The loss of subscriber was recorded in MTN's voice (telephone) subscriber base, which fell by over 448,000, ending the month of September 2020 with 82.6 million subscribers, below the 83.08 million it recorded in August this year. Subscribers dumping MTN cost the company its market share within the Nigerian market.

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AllNews findings showed MTN's grip in the telecommunications market was loosen as its market share dropped to 40.30% in September, from the 40.90% market share it held in August. While MTN was losing subscribers, its closest rival, Airtel, grew its subscriber base by over 483,000 subscribers - gaining more than the number MTN lost within the same period.

Airtel's subscriber base rose from 54,7 million in August to 55,2 million in September, to close the gap between Airtel and MTN. Also, Glo recorded a rise in its subscriber base, which jumped to 54.2 million in September, from 52,9 million Glo recorded in August; reflecting an addition of 1.3 million, meaning Glo recorded the highest voice subscriber growth, according to NCC record.

9mobile which has been struggling to gain subscribers five months ago, also recorded voice subscriber growth, after its subscriber base rose to 12.7 million in September, rising by 351,600 gain from the 12.3 million 9mobile reported in the previous month.

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MTN Fall Behind Glo, Airtel In Data War

The month of September wasn't a good one for MTN, as the company struggled behind Airtel and Glo in the data war. The rivals of MTN gained the highest in the month under review, as Glo gained more than 638,200 data subscribers in September, growing its data subscriber base to 39.1 million, from the 38.4 million.

Airtel was the second highest gainer, as its subscriber rose by over 519,200 subscribers to hit 40.3 million in September, moving from 39.7 million subscribers in August. MTN came next, gaining over 462,400 subscribers to grow its subscriber base from 63.8 million in August to 64.3 million the next month.

Struggling 9mobile gained the least data subscribers, as AllNews findings showed that 9mobile recorded about 104,400 subscribers to raise its data subscriber base from 7.1 million to 7.2 million.