Growth in the areas of acquisition of new internet subscribers in Nigeria occurred only on the Globacom network in the month of October, 2016, according to the latest information released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The commission indicated in the Monthly Internet Subscribers Data for October, published on its website, that the industry added only 297,623 new internet subscribers in the month of October and all the subscribers were added by Globacom.
The regulator indicated that the total number of internet users on the networks of the four major operators dropped by 378,015 from 93.5m in September to 93.1m in October.
Globacom grew its internet customer base to 27,185,552 million in October from 26,887,929 in September, thereby, attracting an increase of 297,623 subscribers.
On the other hand, MTN and Etisalat experienced reduction in the number of customers surfing the net through their networks during the period. Airtel did not record any increase as its figures for the two months were the same.
According to the data, MTN had 32,464,779 million subscribers browsing the internet using its network in October, compared to the figure of 32,771,259 in September. Effectively, the operator recorded a decrease of 306,480 internet subscribers.
For Airtel, internet subscriber figure remained at 18,832,238 million in October, as it was in September. Etisalat had 14,693,492 million data customers in October, showing a loss of 369,158, compared to the 15,062,650 million users it recorded in the preceding month of September.
The data also revealed that the CDMA operators lost 13,664 internet users, as they recorded 38,309 in October compared to the 51,973 figure recorded in September.
It would be recalled that Globacom consolidated its lead in the data segment in October by launching 4G LTE network across Nigeria. The advanced network avails its subscribers the opportunity to enjoy a much enhanced internet experience on the Globacom network.