Business
‘Nigerians Spend N767.23bn On Airtime In Three Months’
Subscribers to mobile telecommunications services in Nigeria spent about N767.23billion on airtime purchase from November 2018 to January 2019, investigations have revealed.
This figure is based on the number of subscribers in the three months under review, which was obtained from the Nigerian Communications Commission, and the industry’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) provided by network operators.
In November 2018, the monthly subscriber data from NCC showed that there were 168.73 million active GSM subscribers from MTN, Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile.
In the following month, the data indicated that the number of active subscribers rose to 172. 63 million while in January 2019, the country had 173.63 million active GSM users.
With the telecommunications companies’ ARPU amounting to $4.87 (N1490.22) per month, Nigerians spent N251.44billion on airtime in November 2018. Based on the same estimated monthly revenue per user in the industry, expenses on airtime purchase increased by two per cent to reach N257.04billion in December 2018.
In January this year, about N258.74billion was expended by active Nigerian subscribers on airtime, giving a total of N767.23bn in the three months under review.
Sales of airtime remain the core revenue earner for telcos and generate income for operators via voice calls, SMS, data subscriptions and value-added services.
Nigerians purchase airtime through various platforms such as physical recharge card, the virtual top-up via USSD code, subscribers’ bank accounts domiciled on mobile devices, vending on web-based platforms and on Automated Teller Machines.
Despite predictions by analysts that voice and messaging revenue would decline due to the proliferation of instant messaging apps, revenue from airtime continues to rise.