Globacom Tops Airtel To Become Nigeria's Second Largest Operator

Globacom has made substantive growth in its subscribers' number by moving from 23 million subscribers in the first quarter of the year to 27 million subscribers in the second quarter, to become the second largest telecoms operator in the country after MTN that had always maintained the leadership position by subscriber number.

The Nigerian Communications Commission, yesterday, released a new figure of telecoms subscribers on various networks for the month of June, 2014, placing Globacom ahead of Airtel that ranked second largest in the first quarter of the year.

The new result, which was released on the NCC's website, showed that MTN still maintained the leading position by subscriber number of 56 million subscribers, followed by Globacom with 27 million subscribers, and Airtel with 25 million subscribers. Etisalat, the fourth entrant into the GSM market, still followed behind with an improved subscriber number of 19 million.

From the result, it also showed that Globacom has reclaimed the position of the second largest mobile service provider which it conceded to Airtel during the first quarter of the year. Globacom achieved the feat by recording 2.8 million new subscribers between February and June this year, the largest by any operator in the country within the period.

According to This Day, the figures, MTN subscriber number dropped from 57 million in March 2014 to 56 million in June 2014, but still maintained the market leader with the highest number of subscribers on its network. Globacom which emerged second largest operator, moved up from 23 million subscribers in March 2014, to 27 million subscribers in June 2014. Like MTN, Airtel also dropped from 25.5 million subscribers in March 2014 to 25.3 million subscribers in June 2014, while like Globacom, Etisalat also moved up from 18 million subscribers in March 2014, to 19 million subscribers in June 2014.

The result show that MTN now has a 44 per cent market share, Globacom has 21 per cent, Airtel, 20 per cent, while Etisalat has 15 per cent.

In effect, between end of February and June end, Glo added 2,836,996 new subscribers to its network, while Etisalat recorded 1,270,888 new customers. On the other hand, MTN lost 666,986 subscribers, while Airtel also lost 892,176 customers.

Industry sources believe that the massive network upgrade recently embarked upon by Glo and its bouquet of new service offerings may have given it the edge over other operators.

The network expansion involved swapping of old base stations with new ones and modernisation of existing infrastructure into a state-of-the-art network software and hardware. It also involves achieving 90 per cent 3G coverage, the first in the industry, making it possible for Glo data subscribers across the country to experience significant service enhancement.

In addition to pioneering latest technology in the industry, Globacom has introduced unique products and affordable tariff packages including Infinitiser, Glo Gista, Infinito, Profit Max, Bumper and G-Bam.

Etisalat is believed to be making steady progress in the industry, as a result if its new products that are geared towards the Nigerian youths.