The number of active GSM mobile customers in Nigeria fell to 142.65 million in June, down by around 2.29 million from the previous month, according to figures from the Nigeria Communications Commission. The drop was due mainly to market leader MTN losing around 1.9 million customers.
Etisalat also lost almost half a million customers following the UAE company's withdrawal from the market and the operator's renaming as 9mobile. The group finished the month with a total 18.02 million customers. Globacom was still in second place and was the only major operator to win customers in June, adding almost 46,000 new users for a total 37.41 million. Airtel lost almost 30,000 customers to finish June with 34.13 million subscribers.
The NCC's figures showed little change in the number of mobile internet users, at 91.60 million in June against 91.57 million in May. MTN added 286,429 internet subscribers in June for a total 31.69 million, while Globacom had 27.18 million internet customers, down by 218,482 users from May.
Airtel had 20.17 million internet users in June, adding 261,428 customers to its May record of 19.91 million. 9Mobile ended the month with 12.55 million internet customers, a decrease of 293,828 users against the 12.84 million users recorded in May.