Globacom has continued to lead the growth in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector with an impressive 39% jump in its internet subscriber figure in the twelve months of 2020.
According to statistics published on the website of telecom industry regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the sector grew by 28,145,458 new internet users from 125,728,328 at the end of December 2019 to 153,873,786 in December, 2020. This represents a 22 percent growth.
NCC on Monday released a statement showing that the telecoms sector played a huge role in getting Nigeria out of recession with a contribution of 12.45% to the country Gross Domestic Product. Growth in internet subscription in 2020 was principally responsible for the contribution.
Data grandmasters, Globacom, recorded the most growth among the operators, moving from 28,934,439 data users at the end of 2019 to 40,106,659 at the end of 2020. This is an addition of 11,172,220 new data subscribers or 39% growth in the telecoms sub-sector. The figure is also by far higher than the 22 percentage growth recorded in the sector in the review year.
Globacom is followed by MTN which grew its data user figures by 21%, while Airtel recorded 20% increase to place third. Conversely, 9mobile recorded a loss during the period as data users on its network declined by 12%.
The latest update is consistent with the data released last month by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The bureau noted that Globacom led the growth in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry in the third quarter of 2020.
Glo data services are powered by the huge capacity international submarine cable called Glo1, a wholly owned facility that brought unprecedented bandwidth from Europe to Nigeria and other West African countries.
In addition to Glo 1, Globacom owns a robust infrastructure and is the only operator in Nigeria with integrated domestic and International network. Its high speed optic fibre network spans thousands kilometers covering almost the entire Nigerian landmass. The network is configured in multiple ‘self-healing’ rings to ensure undisrupted service.
Globacom’s remarkable performance in the sector is believed to be a result of the continuous network upgrade which enhances data service delivery to its subscribers. It also offers subscribers attractive data packages with unmatched value.