MTN Gains More Subscribers as 35,154 Port from Other Networks in One Year

Emma Okonji

Current statistics on Number Portability released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has revealed that as much as 35,154 subscribers port their GSM lines from one network to another within a space of one year.

The subscribers, which cut across MTN, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile, had to port their lines from one network to another between August 2022 and August 2023, in search of better service quality.

Among the subscribers that port their lines to other networks, MTN, which has the highest market share of 38.58 per cent and a subscriber base of 85,005,917 as at August 2023, had the highest number of subscribers that ported from other networks to its network (inward porting), followed by Airtel, Globacom and 9mobile, which had the least number of subscribers that ported into their network in the last one year.

Number porting is the switching of subscriber’s GSM number from its original network to another network, while retaining the same GSM number on the new network, in search of better service quality. When a network gains additional GSM numbers during porting, it is regarded as inward porting, but when a network loses existing GSM numbers during porting, it is regarded as outward porting.   

According to the statistics, which THISDAY obtained from the official website of NCC, in August 2022, a total of 2,389 subscribers, port their GSM lines from one network to another, while in September 2022, a total of 2,934 subscribers also port their GSM lines to other networks. In October, November and December 2022, a total of 2,790; 2,299 and 2,8269 respectively, also port their GSM lines to other networks.

In January 2023, 2,581 subscribers port their lines to other networks, while a total of 2,021; 2,253 and 3,076 subscribers port their lines to other networks in the months of February, March and April 2023 respectively.

In May 2023, a total of 2,992 subscribers port their lines to other networks, while a total of 2,321 port their lines to other networks in June 2023.

Also in July 2023, a total of 4,077 subscribers port their lines to other networks, while a total of 2,592 subscribers port their GSM lines to other networks in August 2023 in search of better service quality, according to the current statistics released by the NCC.

According to the statistics, MTN is leading in the number of inward porting, which is the number of subscribers that port to its network in the last one year.

The statistics showed that in August last year, a total of 1,617 subscribers, ported from other networks to MTN network, which was the highest in number porting that month. Also, in September, October, November and December 2022, the total number of subscribers that ported their lines to the MTN network, were 2,040; 1,935; 1,680 and 1,812 respectively, and the figures were the highest among the subscribers that port their lines in those months.

In January 2023, MTN had a total number of 1,688 subscribers that switched to its network, while in February a total of 1,522 subscribers also switched to the MTN network, the highest in number porting (inward porting) for those months, according to NCC’s statistics.

In March, April and May 2023, MTN also had the highest number on inward porting, numbering 1,555; 2,096 and 2,138 respectively. Then in June, July and August 2023, MTN again had the highest number of inward porting, numbering 1,545; 3,410 and 1,682 respectively according to NCC’s statistics.