Airtel Loses Over 100,000 Subscribers in One Month, Trails Behind Glo

Airtel lost more than 100,000 subscribers in Nigeria between December 2019 and January 2020, even as MTN Nigeria and Globacom  recorded growth in the total number of their respective active subscribers.

According to report  released by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Airtel Nigeria accounted for 49.9 million subscribers in January 2020, a slight decline compared to the 50.1 million it had in December last year.

 Airtel and Globacom have  been in contest for the second position in the market share in the Nigerian’s telecommunications sector.

But now that Globacom has moved  ahead of Airtel,  many industry watchers say Glo must do a lot of work to maintain the number two position right behind MTN Nigeria.

The NCC report showed that Globacom’s subscriber based increased by 55,509 to hit 51.75 million in January, up from 51.70 million in December 2019.

Many  believe that the surge in Globacom’s subscribers has been its aggressive marketing which has helped it to secure 27.85 per cent of the market share, when compared with Airtel Nigeria which 26.92 per cent of the market.

MTN Nigeria has continued  to maintain its position as the leader in the Nigerian telecoms industry. The company was the biggest gainer in the month of January, having added 1.93 million subscribers to its already existing 68.7 million subscribers as of December. This has, therefore, increased MTN’s total active subscribers to 70.6 million in January 2020.