Mobile data battle: MTN leads

By OBINNA EZUGWU

With growing internet penetration in Africa’s most populous country, and data subscription looking certain to take greater share of disposable income, it is not surprising that among Nigeria’s telecom giants, the race to win more subscribers has continued to intensify.

But MTN Nigeria which now accounts for about 38 percent and 43 percent of the country’s GSM and Internet subscribers, respectively, according to Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) figures is the indisputable wielder of the throne.

Nigeria, no doubt, is a huge market. In the first six months of 2020, Nigerians spent N1.97 trillion on calls and data, with each subscriber accounting for N1,725 monthly on the average, according to figures from the NCC. While voice remains king, accounting for about 68 percent of this total, a significant amount of which comes from international calls, the growing adoption of digital channels for interaction in the light of Covid-19 pandemic lockdown means that data is significantly cutting into voice’s share of the pie before long.

Many people have switched over to WhatsApp, Telegram, Zoom and Google Meets for text, calls and meetings. In less than two months, Zoom has moved from 10 million to 300 million users globally, while Telegram recently hit 400 million daily active users. The implication of this is that increasingly voice calls, particularly for international calls, will become less attractive. Thus while voice revenue will suffer, data will gain.

Indeed, this new reality is already reflecting on bottom lines of telcos. While in Q1 2019, data revenue represented just 16.6 percent of MTN Nigeria’s earnings, it accounted for 22 percent of the telco’s N329.2 billion 2020 earnings. In the same quarter of 2020 Airtel Africa earned almost same at 22.2 percent. Yet, in its half year 2020 results, MTN, an increase of 12.5 percent from N566.9 billion reported in same period last year to N638 billion revenues this year which was driven by growth in data revenue in the half year of 2020.

The company’s revenues from data significantly jumped from N56.7 billion to N79.9 billion within the period under review, while, strikingly, call revenues suffered a 1 percent drop to N176.2 billion suggesting a drop in its average revenue per user.

“We started experiencing a change in traffic patterns with a drop in voice traffic which was partially offset by an increase in data traffic on the network,” MTN wrote in the latest quarterly report.

Data is the emerging king, and MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9mobile are at war to take the throne. But the South African owned behemoth is already edging ahead understandably because it also has more users than other networks. But it’s not the only reason, especially given that most subscribers have more than one network.
BusinessHallmark polled a number of young Internet savvy Nigerians on their choice network for data and reasons for their choices. The result returned about 50 percent for MTN, about 25 for Airtel, 15 for Glo and 5 for 9mobile. And the reason is mostly network efficiency rather than volume.

Evidently, because Nigeria is still faced with poor internet quality, many respondents based their choices in better quality network, and this is where MTN is having an edge. A recent survey conducted on 4G services in 77 countries including Nigeria, by a Network monitoring outfit, Opensignal concluded that congestion is messing with the 4G user experience. Nigeria ranked 75 out of 77 of the countries surveyed in terms of its 4G speed.
Helped by its better network reach, MTN ended 2019 with additional 8.18 million data subscribers, while Airtel successfully edged out Glo adding 4.06 million subscribers over the indigenous brand which managed to add 1.81 million, according to NCC figures. Glo has since fought back to displace Airtel.

MTN ended the year 2019 with 54.11 million data subscribers, up from 45.9 million it recorded in January. Airtel on the other hand, added 4.06 million subscribers taking its total number of data subscribers to 34.52 million from 30.4 million, while Glo rose from 27.6 million data subscribers in January to 28.9 million subscribers in December.

The trajectory has continued this year, however, with Glo making a surprise push in within the first months of the year. In June MTN added 1.7 million data subscribers up from 882,8458 added in May which brought its total to 60.60 million subscribers, about half of which are active. Glo which had sprang a surprise, rapidly growing its base in the course of the year, maintained the trajectory from 28.9 million in December 2019 to 37.97 million in June, displacing Airtel, which ended June with 37.57 million in second place.
Meanwhile, 9mobile has continued on steady decline losing 16,000 subscribers which meant that its total base fell from 7.26 million to 7.10 million in June. Competition is growing with leading service providers attempting to lure subscribers with relatively better offers. Recently, Airtel introduced Binge plan which offers customers 6GB for N15000, weekly, meaning 2GB for N6000 a month. And recently too, MTN began to offer additional 10GB bonus for its N3,500 10GB, though not for all customers.
But overall, the offers, daily, weekly and monthly, have evened out, leaving subscribers to make choices mainly on which network works better in their environment.
“I use MTN,” says Chinwe Agbeze, Lagos based journalist. I know it’s quite expensive when compared to other networks but it’s reliable. With MTN I don’t have to worry about network hitches. Browsing is faster no matter the location.”
It is the same reason for Juliet Abuchi in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. “I use MTN because it has smooth network, even though I think it consumes data faster.” For Ugwuanyi Sylvester, however, the choice of MTN is rather because “it is cost effective.”
Toyin Komolafe in Lagos has slightly different reason for choosing MTM. According to her, “I use MTN because they offer 350 MB for Instagram and Tiktok which I use the most.”
Vera Oluaoha in Ajuwon, Ogun says she had to choose MTN too, because Airtel network suddenly became bad in her area.
“I use MTN because they serve me in terms of network. Lately Airtel network is bad, but before it was going for me. Depending on the networks, I switch in between the two. I also use Airtel.”
For others who chose Airtel, it is for same reasons as those who opted for MTN.
“I alternate between Airtel and MTN because their network is good here,” notes Adefarakan Adedoyin in Ile-Ife, Osun State.
“Normally I use Airtel,” says Ugonna Nwazuluahu in Lagos. Their binge plan is 1500 for 6GB weekly. The total of 6k for 24GB monthly, and It pays me better than their monthly plans of N2000 that doesn’t stay up to 5 days.
“But my colleagues recently introduced an MTN plan where you choose the plan best suited for you. I don’t think everyone knows about it yet. I chose the N3500 for 20GB. My other colleague checked and did the N5000 for 30gb plan. I didn’t see that in my offer when I checked, while my other colleague has 9gb maximum offer.”
“I am using Airtel,” says Uju Ugwu in Lagos. “Their network doesn’t disappoint me. They give me double of the amount I recharge each time I recharge.” For Elizabeth Onuoha in Ogun State, the choice is 9mobile. “I use 9mobile because it’s quite fast where I live. Connection to the internet is great.”
It is the same reason that Oyiwodu Aje-Oitu in Abuja chose the network. “I use 9mobile,” she notes. “It’s more expensive but effective.” For Eniola Ilori in Agbado, Lagos, the choice is MTN but according to her, “the network is really bad.”
“I use MTN for data because the network coverage is strong in my area although their data finishes a lot faster, if not I will be using airtel,” says Chioma Emeagi in Awka, Anambra State.
In terms of amount per megabyte of data, the competition has largely evened out, with the exception of Glo which offers more data for money. MTN’s daily and weekly plans for instance, offers 40mb for N50, 100mb for N100, 350mb plus Instagram and TikTok for N200, 200mb for three days at N200 and 1GB for N300.
On weekly basis, the network offers 350mb for N300, 1.5GB for N500, 750mb (two weeks) for N500 and 500bm plus 1000 talk time for the same amount. Monthly, the network offers 1.5GB for N1000, 2gb for N1200, 3gb for N1500, 4.5gb for N2000, 6GB for N2500 and 10gb for N3500.
Glo on the other hand offers on daily and weekly basis, 50mb for N50, 150mb for N100, 350mb for N200 (2 days) and 1.35GB for N500 (2 days). Monthly, the indigenous network offers 1.9GB for N1000, 4.1GB for N1500, 5.2GB for N2000, 7.7GB for N2500, 10GB for 3000, 13.25GB for N4000, 18.25GB for N5000, 29.5GB for N8000, 50GB for N10,000, 93G for N15,000, 119GB for N18,000 and 138GB for N20,000.
Airtel daily and weekly plans are listed thus: N50 for 40mb, N100 for 100mb, N200 for 200mb (3days), N300 for 1GB and N500 for 2GB (2 days. Weekly: N300 for 350mb, N500 for 750mb (14 days), N500 for 1GB and N1500 for 6GB.
Airtel monthly offers: N1000 for 1.5GB, N1200 for 2GB, N1500 for 3GB, N2000 for 4.5GB, N2500 for 6GB and N4000 for 11GB.
9mobile on the other hand, offers daily, 100mb for N100, 200 mb (7 days) for N200, 650mb for 200, 1GB for N300, 1GB for N500 (7 days), 2GB for N500 (2 days) and 7GB for N1500 (7 days).
Monthly, the network offers 500mb for N500, 1.5GB for N1000, 2GB for N1,200, 4.5GB for N2000 and 11GB for N4000.