MTN Nigeria has recorded a sharp reduction in its subscription growth rate after at least 5 million users ended their patronage of the telecommunication firm.
This was said to have been occasioned by the review of the subscribers’ registration documents in line with the SIM registration exercise sanctioned by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
In a third quarter report released on Thursday, the company attributed the decline in their customer base to harsher regulatory framework and more-spirited competition.
In a statement by the Johannesburg, South Africa-based MTN Group Limited, the company will add 14.8 million net subscribers this year, compared with a previous forecast of 16.75 million.
According to the company, growth rate for the third quarter ending September represents a 0.9 percent increase to 233 million subscribers, compared to 2 percent in the same quarter in 2014.
In a statement by the company’s Chief Executive, Sifiso Dabengwa, “Aggressive price competition, weakening macroeconomic conditions in most of our markets and unfavourable exchange rate movements continued to impact financial performance for the quarter.”
The spokesperson for the MTN Group, Nik Kershaw, said, “MTN, which operates in more than 20 countries across the Middle East and Africa, had 5.1 million subscribers cut off in Nigeria, its biggest market, at the end following checks on personal documents.
“The company is also facing ongoing regulatory restrictions related to its market-leading position in Africa’s most populous country.”
Kershaw however said that at least 3.4 million customers may have been reconnected as a result of the ongoing regularisation of the subscribers’ registration documents.