It is exactly a year today since the Saka Wars ushered in Mobile Number Portability in Nigeria. As expected by many, the effect has been anything but substantial.
According to data from the NCC, there have been only 87,887 incoming and 80,424 outgoing ports from May 2013 to February 2014. That’s not even up to 0.5% of the total market share. What’s interesting however is the distribution of the ports.
Incoming ports
Of the 87,887 incoming ports, Airtel amassed 40,683 – a whooping 47% of incoming ports. Coming in second was Etisalat with 34% of the incoming ports, followed by Globacom’s 13%. MTN on the other hand garnered a measly 6%.
Colour guide: MTN, Etisalat, Airtel, Globacom
Perhaps a certain network operator had an advantage because a certain proprietary data plan works on non-proprietary devices?
Outgoing ports
Etisalat was the most favoured operator with only 8,653 of its subscribers porting out. That’s 11% of the outgoing share. The second smallest loser was Globacom with 15%, followed by Airtel with 21%. MTN lost 36,819 subscribers. That’s 46% of the outgoing ports share.
Analysing these data further will reveal that Etisalat was the biggest overall winner with a net gain of 20,886 subscribers. Airtel is close second with about 18,000 net subscriber gain. Globacom and MTN came in 3rd and last, with negatives of -601 and -30,910 respectively.
Colour guide: MTN, Etisalat, Airtel, Globacom
MTN probably has nothing to worry about at this point. It is still the largest network with a 60-million strong subscriber base. However, Etisalat’s overall win is probable testament to the general perception of their quality of service.
[image via Flickr/Andreh Lih]
