Nigeria Records 159.5m Active Internet Connections In May 2023

Nigeria now has 159.5 million active internet subscriptions across fixed, mobile, and VOIP networks, in May, 2023, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) report has revealed.

This represents an 8.6 per cent growth when compared with the 158.2 million recorded in April, 2023, the latest report by NCC stated.

The report also disclosed that mobile network operators (MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile) maintained their dominance of the internet market with 159 million subscriptions, while VOIP operators, which include Smile Communications and Ntel accounted for 335,121 internet subscriptions as of May, while other internet service providers (ISPs) accounted for 204,810 internet subscriptions, as of December 2022.

On broadband subscriptions, the report showed that broadband increased to 92.2 million in May, 2023 from 91.8 million recorded in April, 2023, representing 48.28 per cent.

Recalling that the federal government is targeting 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025, the executive vice chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, averred that the commission would be providing industry leadership to push broadband penetration in the country to well above 50 per cent by the end of this year.

Danbatta said: “The Commission would also ensure that Nigeria achieves 90 per cent broadband coverage and 70 per cent penetration by the year 2025 in line with the National Broadband Policy.”

To achieve these targets, the EVC said the country would need to attract more investments in infrastructure to bring these targets to reality.