Mobile number porting activities across the four GSM networks of MTN, Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile increased by 353 per cent between in August. According to the latest industry data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), a total of 3,327 lines were ported within the eleven months compared with 734 recorded in July.
After five months of halt in subscriber movement from one network to another due to the government’s ban on new SIM registration between December 2020 and April 2021, number porting activities resumed June with 616 subscribers jumping to other networks within the month.
The NCC’s data showed that MTN, which is the largest operator in terms of subscriber number benefitted the most from subscribers porting in the month under review as 2,014 subscribers moved to the network from other operators. Airtel emerged as the second-largest beneficiary of the movement as 1,089 subscribers ported to its network. 9mobile which fourth-largest operator gained 224 subscribers from other operators in the month, while Globacom did not record any incoming porting on its network.
In terms of outgoing porting, 9mobile lost more than it gained as 1,716 customers ported out of the network, thus emerging as the biggest loser for the month. MTN lost 498 subscribers to other networks, while 323 customers left Airtel’s network to others. The report showed that Globacom recorded 343 outgoing porting in the month under review.
Impacted by the ban on new SIM registration, porting activities had declined by 300 per cent in December 2020. On resumption of porting in June this year, the 616 porting records came as the lowest monthly figure of number porting since the initiative was launched in May 2013.
The monthly figure of porting activities, which reached a peak of 22,539 in July 2015, had been on a steady decline for about three years as mobile users showed less interest in porting. The Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) had attributed that to improvement in service quality. According to them, the subscribers were showing less interest in porting because they were satisfied with their service providers.
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