SIM-NIN linkage: Telcos lose 19.20 million subscribers in five months
Telecommunication company have lost 19.20 million subscribers since the Federal Government began the linking of National Identity Number with SIM cards, according to new industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission on Tuesday.
The subscriber base fell from 207,907,709 in November 2020, to 188,705,734 in April, 2021. MTN is the biggest loser with over 7,202,757 subscribers lost, while Airtel, Globacom and 9Mobile lost 7,054,115; 4,490,531 and 408,904 subscribers respectively.
The latest NCC data released on Tuesday, showed that the telcos lost 3.7 million subscribers in April as the subscriber base fell from 192,413,613 in March.
The telcos have lost more than eight million data subscribers since the Sim-NIN policy began. Porting services dropped from 16,342 in November to zero in April.
In December 2020, the sale and registration of new SIM cards was banned by the Federal Government and a December 30 deadline issued for people to link their SIM cards was set. This has since been moved to June 30, 2021.
