The Nigerian telecoms market is expected to generate revenue of $10.9 billion in 2019, up from a total of $9.2 billion in 2013 according to latest figures from Pyramid Research.
The research company noted that service revenue was $9.8 billion in 2014, a 6.8% increase over 2013. It commented that although growth in the market will be slightly reduced in 2015, as the market recovers from the large number of fixed-line disconnections, long-term growth of the telecommunications sector would not be affected.
Indeed, telecoms growth in the country is dominated by the mobile sector: with revenue of $7.3 billion, the mobile voice segment was the largest contributor towards overall telecoms revenue in 2014 – an increase of $219 million from 2013. Pyramid Research noted that Nigeria will remain the biggest market for mobile subscriptions on the African continent. As the largest economy on the continent, it will also play an important role in defining future mobile trends.
Pyramid Research forecasts that mobile data and pay-TV will grow at compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 16% and 5.2% respectively from 2014 to 2019, to reach $3.8 billion and $647 million respectively.
The number of mobile subscribers is expected to reach 182 million by the end of 2019, up from around 136 million active connections in November 2014, according to figures from the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC).
LTE subscriptions will account for around 8.1 million by this point, or 4.5% of total mobile subscriptions. The research company added that the NCC plans to auction spectrum in 2015, and said a number of operators have expressed interest in the opportunity.
“Other countries in Africa are likely to follow Nigeria when it comes to mobile technology developments. The increasing demand for mobile data will offer service providers, as well as new entrants to the market, ample opportunity to test and grow their service offerings in Nigeria,” said Severin Luebke, analyst at Pyramid Research.
The top two operators, MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria, which provide fixed-line, mobile and Internet services, accounted for 68% of overall service revenue in 2014. Both operators are investing in 3G and fibre networks to cater to the increasing demand for data and pay-TV services, Pyramid Research said.
