MTN, Airtel, 9Mobile, Glo, Others Rake in N37.8 Billion From SMS in 2021

• Telecommunication operators in Nigeria are making a huge kill with SMS sent across the major platforms in the country
• MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9Mobile and others cumulatively sent a total of 9.462 billion SMS in 2021, generating a total of N37.8 billion
• The telcos also sent about 53 million international outgoing calls in the period under review and this spiked the number of SMS sent to 15 per cent higher than that of 2021

Africa’s telecom giant, MTN is leading the pack of telecom operators in Nigeria with huge revenue from SMS in 2021.

The company generated over N16 billion from SMS in the year under review to take other players to N37.8 billion in total revenue generated last year, data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) indicated.

The telecoms regulator, in a yearly industry report released on Thursday, June 16, 2022, stated that a total of 9.462 billion text messages were sent by subscribers on MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9Mobile, Ntel and Smile last year.

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Text messages sent despite WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, others

At the rate of N4.00 per SMS, the companies generated about N37.8 billion for the operators, according to a Nairametrics report.

This shows that Nigerians used text messages across the networks despite the presence of internet-based free messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Messenger and others.

According to the NCC data, there is an increase of 15 per cent in the number of text messages sent by users last year in comparison with the 8.2 billion text messages sent in 2020.

Also, the telcos recorded about 53 million outgoing international SMS in the year under review.

The leading telcos in Nigeria

MTN recorded the largest number of SMS which were sent locally in 2021 with 7.9 billion SMS sent via its network, It accounted for 83 per cent of the total sent in Nigeria last year.

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Airtel followed with 1.27 billion SMS sent over its networks.

9Mobile recorded 305 million outgoing text messages for the year

Ntel’s subscribers sent 2.08 million messages in 2021

Smile Communications recorded 265,176 outgoing messages.

Globacom recorded the least sent messages in the year, with a total of 3,340 outgoing SMS recorded on the network.

NCC adds 190 new mobile phones to approved phones in Nigeria, makes 1,843 phones authorised

However, Legit.ng reported that Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has authorised 1,643 mobile phones for use in Nigeria, according to a story by Nairametrics.

The different brands and models have been tested and found authentic and have met the set requirements of the NCC and can be sold in Nigeria.

Source: Legit.ng