BREAKING NEWS, Business
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The Nigerian Communications Commission says that 97.21 million Nigerians now use mobile internet as against 95.37 recorded in August
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Nov 16, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT |
THE number of mobile internet users in Nigeria is now 97.21 million compared to the 95.37 million recorded in August. The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC’s monthly Internet subscriber data for September published by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, showed that internet users on both Global System for Mobile communications, GSM, and the Code Division Multiple Access, CDMA, networks, which are all mobile, increased by 1.84 million in September this year.
The data showed that of the 97.21 million internet users in September, 97.06 million were on GSM networks, while 151,816 users were on CDMA networks. However, the CDMA operators lost 367 internet users, after recording 151,816 in September, against 152,183 in August this year.
According to the figure, the MTN Nigeria has 41.84 million subscribers browsing the internet on its network, the highest among the telecoms operators. NCC explained that the embattled telecom provider recorded an increase of 423,448 internet subscribers in September, after recording 41.41 million in August.
Also, Globacom has 21.89 million subscribers surfing the net on its network in September. About 20.77 million browsed the internet on the network in August. Airtel had 17.73 million internet users in September as against 17.49 million customers recorded in August.
The data showed that internet users on the Airtel network increased by 235,941 in September this year. The NCC figure also revealed that Etisalat had 15.59 million customers who browsed the internet in September, against the 15.54 million users in August.
The data showed that those browsing the net on Etisalat’s network rose by 57,061 in the month of September. The NCC data also revealed that the CDMA operators, Multi-Links and Visafone, had a joint total of 151,816 internet users on their networks in September.
It showed that the only two surviving CDMA networks in the country recorded a decrease of 367 internet subscribers in the month under review, from the 152,183 users they recorded in August this year. According to the data, Visafone has a decrease of 393 customers surfing the internet in September, with a total of 151,530 internet users, compared to the 151,923 users it had in the month of August.
Multi-Links had 286 internet users in September, adding 26 customers from the August record of 260 users.
The increase in the use of the internet in the month of September showed that more Nigerians were embracing data as the country moves towards achieving 30 percent broadband penetration by 2018, as targeted in the country’s broadband plan.
Meanwhile, NCC has advised consumers who are not satisfied with the services of network providers not to hesitate to seek redress by lodging appropriate complaints to the commission. This, the NCC said would assist the consumers to have quality service and thereby enhancing the image of the commission.
Abdullah Maikano, director, NCC Consumers Affairs Bureau, Abuja, made the appeal during the17th edition of NCC consumers’ town hall meeting held in Kwara State with consumers of various networks. According to him, the forum was organised to help telecom consumers understand their right as major stakeholders in the telecommunication industry.
He said it would assist the commission to address consumers’ related issues as well as to educate stakeholders in contemporary issues generating attention in the industry. “Consumers of telecom services who are not satisfied with services rendered to them by their service providers have the right to seek redress by lodging complaints to the commission. As part of our mandate to protect all telecom consumers, I wish to reiterate that consumers have the right to a fair complaint process and should therefore have a good knowledge of the steps to follow when making a compliant.
“It is also mandatory for service providers to ensure that all subscribers’ complaint is resolved within the stipulated service level agreement set by the commission based on the quality of service regulations. The process starts with subscribers, first contacting their service providers to lay their complaints and receiving a complaint ticket number. In the event, the complaint is not resolved to the satisfaction of the subscriber, the subscriber can then contact the NCC contact centre for further resolution.”
While assuring the consumers of amicable resolution of all complaints received at the commission, Maikano said feedback would be provided after the commission has communicated it to their respective service providers. He, therefore, appealed to the consumers to continue to exercise their right optimally in order to be better served by their network operators and the commission.
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