Number Porting Drops in Three Consecutive Months from 2,829 in December to 2,021 in February 2023

Emma Okonji

Nigeria is beginning to experience a steady drop in the volume of inward porting of telephone numbers across networks, otherwise known as number portability, according to the recent statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Industry stakeholders, including telecoms operators, who attributed the recent drop in porting activities to the stability of networks and improved telecoms services in the last three months, said the number would continue to drop if the networks continue to remain stable.  

In telecoms parlance, incoming (inward) porting means the number of numbers that ported from another service provider’s network into a service provider’s own network.

According to the statistics, which THISDAY obtained from NCC’s website, the total number of inward porting as at December 2022, was 2,829, but the figure dropped to 2,581 in January 2023, with a further drop to 2,021 in February 2023.

Before December 2022, number portability figures were fluctuating by rising and dropping at different months, depending on the stability of the networks within the period.

For instance, the NCC’s statistics showed that in April 2022, the total number of inward porting was 1,357, but increased to as high as 3,679 in May 2022, before dropping again to 2,935 in June 2022. In July, the figure dropped again to 2,602, with a further drop to 2,389 in August 2022, and rose again to 2,934 in September 2022. In October 2022, the figure dropped 2,790, with a further drop to 2,299 in November and rose again to 2,829 in December 2022.  

Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, who attributed the fluctuations in number portability between April and December 2022 to unstable network at that time, however said the networks were becoming a lot more stable, hence the steady drop in the number of porting, since there would be no need for telecoms subscribers to engage in number porting, when the networks are relatively stable.

According to Adebayo, “subscribers port from one network to another in search of stable network and better quality of service, but if the quality of service is good and the networks are relatively stable, subscribers will want to remain with a particular network, without thinking of porting to other networks.”

President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), Deolu Ogunbanjo, told THISDAY that subscribers would always port from one network to another because they need better service quality. He however said subscribers would also want to remain with a particular network without porting, if the network maintains satisfactory service delivery to its customers.

The NCC’s statistics however showed that MTN had continued to maintain the lead in the highest number of inward porting into its network in the last one year. According to the statistics, MTN had a total of 2,040 inward porting in September 2022, while Globacom had 442, Airtel 285 and 9mobile had 167. From October to December 2022, MTN maintained the lead in the number of inward porting, having recorded 1,925, 1,680 and 1,812 respectively. Within the same period, Globacom recorded 363, 263 and 749 inward porting respectively, while Airtel recorded 347, 239 and 154 inward porting respectively. 9mobile also recorded 155, 117 and 114 inward porting respectively within the same period.

In January 2023, MTN, again, maintained the lead with 1,688 inward porting, followed by Airtel with 538 inward porting and Globacom with 229 inward porting, while 9mobile had 126 inward porting. In February 2023, MTN also maintained the lead with 1,522 inward porting, followed by Airtel with 284 inward porting and Globacom with 138 inward porting, while 9mobile had 77 inward porting.

Industry stakeholders have attributed MTN’s lead in the number of inward porting to its large size and market share. As at February 2023, MTN had a total subscriber number of 92.7 million with a market share value of 40.87 per cent, followed by Globacom with subscriber number of 60.8 million, and a market share value of 26.78 per cent. Airtel, which is closely ranked next to Globacom, had a total subscriber number of 60.3 million, with a market share value of 26.58 per cent. 9mobile had a total subscriber number of 13.1 million, with a market share value of 5.76 per cent.