BANYO TEMITAYO
TELECOMS data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, on Thursday, revealed a decline in total number of subscribers who were active on voice in the fourth quarter of 2020.
While a total of 204,601,313 subscribers were active on voice in the fourth quarter, 205,252,058 subscribers were active in the third quarter of 2020, the NBS said. This represented 0.32 per cent decline.
Internet subscription in the country, however, increased by 1.84 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Analysts have however linked the drop in subscribers who were active on voice call to the increase in the number of people who rely on Internet or WhatsApp calls.
This, they said, might also account for the increase in Internet subscription.
The NBS report, titled, ‘Telecoms Data: Active Voice and Internet per State, Porting and Tariff Information (Q4 2020)’, said active subscribers increased from 151,512,122 in the third quarter to154, 301,195 in the fourth quarter.
“Similarly, a total of 154,301,195 subscribers were active on the internet as against 151,512,122 in Q3 2020. This represented a 1.84 per cent growth in internet subscriptions QoQ,” the Bureau stated.
Lagos State had the highest number of subscribers in terms of active voice per state in Q4 2020, the NBS said.
Lagos was closely followed by Kano and Ogun states, respectively, it added, while Bayelsa and Ebonyi states had the least number of subscribers.
