Dormant GSM lines fall to 95 million

The number of unused SIM lines fell by 12.28 percent to 95.16 percent year-on-year in January 2023, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s data has shown.

This is an indication of a growing reliance on telecommunication services in Nigeria as the number of unused lines fell from 108.47 million as of January 2022 to 95.16 million as of January 2023.

This is despite a 5.04 percent overall increase in the number of SIM lines from 305.62 million to 321.04 million.

While there has been a steady increase in the total number of SIMs in circulation, it has yet to rise past its August 2021 peak of 328.12 million.

The fall of unused lines also coincided with the rise in the number of mobile active subscriptions, hitting 225.88 million in January 2023.

This was a 14.57 percent year-on-year increase from the 197.15 million active subscriptions that the country had in the corresponding period of 2022.

Explaining the growth of telecom services recently, the Chief Operating Officer, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria, Ajibola Olude, said, “One is the continuous adoption and utilisation of telecom services.

“There is also the emergence of the Internet of things in the nation. Smart homes need SIMS for every gadget in them, which is also contributing to the growth in the active subscriber base.”

The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, explained that unused SIM lines were lines that had owners, and have been registered, but are not in use.

According to him, they are lines that are not contributing to the growth of the national network. He stated, “It is a combination of many things. It could be people having multiple lines that they do not use.

“Traditionally, a lot of people carry more than one phone. Some have an office line; some have private lines but use one more often than the other. Some are in the diaspora, who though they hold Nigerian SIM cards, are not residents here.

According to GSMA, increasing mobile connectivity is the predominant form of connectivity in Nigeria.

NP/Dominica Nwabufo