An estimate of N314.921 billion is spent by phone users in Nigeria on phone calls and mobile data subscription, findings by Daily trust has revealed.
The figure was arrived at the findings using the current active mobile subscriptions in the country and the subsisting Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), which refers to the financial performance benchmark in the telecoms industry that measures the average monthly spending on each SIM card.
According to the latest industry report by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, active SIM cards being used to access telecoms services stand at 152.8 million while ARPU, that is, average monthly revenue generated by operators from each telecoms subscriber, is estimated at around $4.5 (N2,061), with the exchange rate then at N458 to the dollar.
The NCC said active lines included functional subscriptions on Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), fixed wired/wireless networks and the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) segments of the industry.
The industry statistics, updated August, revealed that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Nigeria activated an approximated 2.58 million lines between July and August, making the current total active subtraction the highest in the 14-year history of the Nigerian telecommunication industry.
Further analysis of the industry also showed that teledensity, which is the number of telephone connections for every hundred individuals in the country, has also risen from 107.33 per cent in July to 109.14 per cent, also being the highest ever peaked in the country.
Industry analysts have explained that these figures suggest a saturation of SIM card subscriptions in the coverage areas of the mobile network operators’ facilities. They are also of the opinion that this was caused by the fact that there is a very heavy focus and concentration of mobile telephony in key areas deemed by the industry as commercially viable.
