A recent government mandate has forced Nigerian telecom operators to link mobile SIM cards to National Identification Numbers (NINs). This stringent measure has resulted in a significant decline in subscriber numbers, with major carriers like MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile losing a collective 64.3 million subscriptions.
Globacom and 9mobile bore the brunt of these losses, shedding millions of subscribers due to unverified NINs. While MTN and Airtel also experienced declines, they maintained their market dominance.
Globacom and 9mobile suffered significant losses in subscriber numbers due to the NIN-SIM verification exercise. Globacom lost a staggering 43 million subscribers, while 9mobile lost approximately 8 million. As a result, the total number of active subscriptions across the four major GSM operators decreased from 219 million to 154.6 million.
The impact of this regulatory change is expected to ripple through the industry, affecting revenue and potentially leading to higher costs for consumers. As the telecom landscape evolves, it remains to be seen how these operators will adapt to this new reality and mitigate future losses.