LIVE UPDATES
Elon Musk's internet company, Starlink, has emerged as Nigeria's third-largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) by subscriber number in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023, according to the latest ISP data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The NCC's report revealed that Starlink's active customers in Nigeria increased to 23,897 in Q4 of 2023, marking a significant rise from 11,207 customers in Q3 2023.
This represents a remarkable 113% increase in subscribers quarter-on-quarter, solidifying Starlink's position as one of the leading ISPs in the country.
Despite Starlink's impressive growth, Spectranet, one of Nigeria's oldest ISPs, maintained the top spot in the market with 113,869 active customers. FiberOne followed in second place with 27,000 active users at the end of 2023.
The NCC's database also highlighted that there were a total of 245 companies licensed as ISPs in Nigeria as of the end of 2023. However, customer data indicated that only 106 of these ISPs had active subscribers in Q4 2023. The 106 ISPs had a cumulative total of 262,206 active customers during the period under review. Despite this growth, the figure remains relatively low compared to the internet customer base of Nigeria's four major mobile network operators.
As of December 2023, MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile had a combined total of 163.8 million active internet subscriptions. Furthermore, the NCC's database shows that an additional seven new ISPs have been licensed so far this year, bringing the total number of licensed ISPs in Nigeria to 252.
