By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that a total of 219,304,281 active voice subscribers were recorded in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2024, a decline of 3.03 per cent compared to the 226,161,713 reported in the first quarter of 2023.
The NBS in its Telecoms Data: Active Voice and Internet per State, Porting and Tariff Information Report for Q1 2024, released in Abuja on Monday showed that active voice subscribers decreased by 2.41per cent from the 224,713,710 recorded in Q4 2023.
Also, the report revealed a total of 164,368,292 active internet subscribers were recorded in Q1 of 2024 compared to the 157,551,104 reported in Q1 2023,
“This represents a 4.33 per cent increase in active internet subscriptions year-on-year.
“While on a quarter-on-quarter basis, active internet subscribers grew by 0.32 per cent from the 163,838,439 recorded in Q4 of 2023,’’ it stated.
On state-by-state analysis, the report showed that Lagos State had the highest number of active voice subscribers in Q1 2024 with 25,956,074, followed by Ogun with 12,672,990 and Kano with 11,931,128.
“On the other hand, Bayelsa still recorded the least number of 1,608,473 voice subscribers, followed by Ebonyi and Ekiti with 1,885,657 and 1,969,568, respectively.
Similarly, the report said Lagos State had the highest number of active internet subscribers in Q1 2024 with 18,841,943, followed by Ogun with 9,528,795 and Kano with 9,067,983.
“On the other hand, Bayelsa recorded the least number of internet subscribers with 1,201,601, followed by Ebonyi and Ekiti with 1,401,626 and 1,545,729 respectively.”
The NBS report showed that MTN maintained its status quo as the telecommunication service provider with the highest share of subscriptions in Q1 2024.
Modupe Gbadeyanka