The latest telecommunications industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that the country’s broadband subscriptions exceeded 81 million as at April 2022, TechEconomy.ng can report.
The report on NCC’s website shows the broadband subscriptions reached 81,676,539 in the month under review which is the highest subscription since January 2021.
For broadband penetration, the figure increased to 42.79% in April as against 42.24% recorded in the previous month.
TechEconomy.ng analyses show that Nigeria increased its broadband penetration by 1.91% in the first four months of 2022 by recording 42.79% (April), 42.24% (March), 40.91% (February) and 41.61% in January.
Analysts believe the recent increase in broadband subscriptions in the Africa’s largest economy, can be attributed to more subscribers being able to link their National Identification Number (NIN) with the SIM cards.
Recall that NCC had directed telcos to bar over 72.77 million active telecommunication subscribers from making calls on their SIMs for failure to comply with the Federal Government’s directive that all SIM Card users must link them to the national database.
The Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) introduced easy self-service unbarring portal for customers to connect their NIN and unbar their lines online.
The 9mobile NIN Web Linking service, for instance, grants a reprieve to customers affected by the recent directive from the Federal Government to Telcos to bar calls from phone numbers yet to be linked to their National Identity Numbers (NIN).
The NIN Web Linking service is a simple, self-service portal that saves customers the hassles of queuing endlessly to link their NIN.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy working with the NCC set an ambitious target when they projected that by 2025 Nigeria would have attained 70% broadband penetration.
This target is striking because currently, broadband penetration stands at 42.79%, consequently tasking the Ministry to double broadband penetration in the next three years.
Industry watchers believe that with all progressive policies and plans the 70% broadband penetration target is achievable.
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