Globacom has emerged as the fastest growing mobile communications firm in the second quarter (Q2) of 2016; data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown. The NBS data shows that the second largest telecom firm had the highest quarter on quarter growth of 4.95% and the highest 16.20% year on year growth among all the four major telecom firms in the second quarter (Q2) of 2016.
The NBS data shows that “Globacom also recorded the largest increases in absolute numbers by both measures. At the end of the second quarter Globacom had 36,320,572 subscribers.”
Airtel was the second fastest growing telecom firm in Q2 2016 according to the NBS data, though the third largest telecom firm recorded a negative -5.57% quarter on quarter growth in Q2 but recorded a positive 8.17% year on year growth in the same period with a marginal positive growth recorded between May and June 2016. Airtel ended the second quarter with a total of 31,978,848 subscribers.
Etisalat emerged the third fastest growing telecom company as at half year 2016. Though the company recorded a positive 2.71% in quarter on quarter growth, year on year growth was a negative -1.67% with Etisalat ending the half year with total subscriber base of 22,469,896, the least among the four major telecom firms in Nigeria.
MTN, which is the largest player in the Nigerian telecom market, is also experiencing the least growth though with signs that growth is picking up again between March and June 2016 after resolving its regulatory issues which saw it taken off regulatory support for some time. MTN recorded the lowest quarter on quarter growth of 2.39% but a strong negative year on year growth rate of -7.01% as at June 2016. MTN had 58,409,767 million subscribers at as at half year, the largest among the four major telecom players in the market.
The NBS report shows that the total number of GSM subscribers as at June 2016 stood at 149,179,083, an increase of 2,692,267, or 1.84% relative to June 2015. But the report notes that in percentage and absolute terms, the year on year increases in GSM subscriber numbers have been falling steadily over the past 12 months.
“In March 2016, the year on year growth rate was 4.06%, and in June 2015 the rate was 12.22%. However, the number of GSM subscribers increased throughout the second quarter of 2016, from 146,866,356 in April. “
The telecommunications industry, which is dominated by GSM operators and technology contributed N1.58 trillion to Nigeria’s GDP in the second quarter of 2016, representing 9.8% of total GDP for the period. By this contribution, the telecoms sector is even bigger than the oil and gas sector which contributed just 8.01% to GDP in the same period.
“Although growth in the telecommunications sector remained positive, in contrast with the economy as a whole, year on year growth nevertheless dropped in real terms from 5.0% in the previous quarter to 1.5%, the lowest rate since 2011 Q3” the NBS reports notes.
ntel, the newest telecom company that launched in April this year, was not captured in the NBS report. The company’s operations is likely to be captured the third quarter report of the NBS.
