The number of Nigerians that are accessing the Internet through the Global System for Mobile Communication networks has leaped by 18,418,476 in the last one year, investigation has shown.
Statistics obtained from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Abuja on Wednesday showed that the number of active subscribers that get access to the Internet through the GSM networks rose from 63,474,364 in February 2014 to 81,892,840 by the end of January 2015.
The number of active subscriptions within the period showed a percentage increase of 29.02 per cent.
On operator basis, MTN retained the highest number of subscribers that use its GSM network for Internet access. As of February 2014, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited had a total of 32,809,364 subscribers, but the number rose to 39,173,123 by the end of January 2015.
For Globacom, the number of active subscribers using the Internet rose from 14,908,109 to 17,671,405 within the same time frame.
Airtel witnessed an increase from 9,647,217 to 14,969,924 within the period, while the number of subscribers using Internet services on the Etisalat network rose from 6,109,681 to 10,078,388 within the same period.
The rising rate of Internet subscription on the GSM networks reflects the increasing importance of data services as a stream of income to mobile telecommunication service providers.
At the earlier stage of the introduction of digital mobile services in the country, the network operators had concentrated on voice services.
However, with the increasing demand for data services and the availability and affordability of smartphones, operators have had to expand their offering for data services, with a number of them upgrading the data capability of their networks.
Apart from the increasing use of smartphones, telecommunication operators are also offering modems that help subscribers use SIM cards to connect their laptops to the Internet. There is also increasing popularity of digital devices such as tablets that use GSM Subscriber Identification Module cards to connect to the Internet.
Poor quality of service remains a major challenge, nonetheless. Currently, there is a push for broadband services as subscribers are often frustrated by poor browsing speed that digital mobile operators offer.
The Ministry of Communications Technology, in alliance with the NCC, had recently initiated steps to increase the broadband penetration in the country. The National Broadband Plan envisages a fivefold increase in broadband penetration by 2018.
The increasing popularity of mobile networks as route to the Internet, however, has resulted in the dwindling fortunes of the country’s traditional Internet Service Providers, who pioneered the introduction of Internet service through a variety of technologies such as the Very Small Aperture Terminal and satellite
