The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that mobile telecoms innovator – Globacom – was the catalyst of the growth witnessed in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector in the third quarter of 2020.
The research agency said the sector grew exponentially in the quarter due to data subscriptions, which leapt by 23 per cent year on year, to berth at 151,063,413 million subscribers at the end of September 2020, as opposed to the corresponding period of 2019, which recorded 122,792,291.
Globacom, NBS said, achieved a 33.2 per cent growth in its internet subscriber base between September 2019 and September 2020; MTN came second with a 24.5 per cent growth during the period under review, while Airtel came a distant third with a 21.4 per cent growth year on year.
The agency’s data indicated that the fourth mobile network operator, 9mobile, recorded a dismal 14 per cent slide in its data subscriptions, from available figures between September 2019 and September 2020.
Industry analysts contend that Glo data services gained the leap because of its backbone of high-capacity international submarine cable, Glo-1, which solely belongs to the network.
Glo-1 is the harbinger of unprecedented seamless bandwidth from Europe to Nigeria and across other West African countries.
Also, the telecommunications company’s giant strides in the sector are assumed to be the result of its unrelenting network upgrade, which has resulted in enhanced data service delivery to its teeming customers in voice and data.
Globacom has reportedly upped the ante in its massive fibre routes pan-Nigeria at a speedy pace in its bid to deepen broadband penetration as well as the reach of Glo 4G+ data services to the nooks and crannies of the country.
“Globacom offers subscribers attractive data packages with unmatched value. For instance, 7GB goes for only N1,500, while N10,000 gives the subscriber 50GB. It also has the Mega Data plans meant for Home Broadband users, such as Small Office Home Office (SOHO) and SME customers as well as high-end customers who need higher data benefits with longer validity periods.
“Apart from these, Globacom also has numerous social data plans, which meet every customer’s social need,” a source added.
– Media Report