Latest Telecommunications Special Edition poll results released by NOIPolls Limited have revealed that a higher proportion of Nigerians use 2 phone lines either registered under one network provider or under two different ones.
This trend has been consistent from 2012 to 2014; however, a 5-point reduction in the proportion of Nigerians in this category was seen from 2012 to 2013 and 3-points increase in 2014. An assessment of the mobile network used by Nigerians placed MTN as the highest used network in the past two years (2012-2013) and even in the present times; although subscription to this provider has consistently declined within this period.
According to the MTN group, this decline has been mainly due to ‘regulatory restrictions’ imposed by the telecoms watchdog and growing spate of unrest by Boko Haram especially in the Northern part of Nigeria. Other Networks used by Nigerians in the order of higher subscribers include; Airtel (45%), Etisalat(33%), Glo (28%) and Visafone (1%). In line with this, the proportion of Airtel subscribers which seemed steady from 2012 to 2013 at (39%), picked up by 6-points in 2014 (45%), thus, making it the only network that has seen a considerable growth in the proportion of its users.
Key findings of the report
Respondents to the poll were asked ten specific questions; only 6 of these questions are discussed in this release. With the aim of assessing the usage of mobile phone lines in Nigeria, respondents were asked: How many phone lines do you currently use? Findings from the current poll highlights that a higher proportion of Nigerians use 2 phone lines.
These lines could either be registered under one network provider or under two different ones. The use of 2 or more lines could probably be driven by the need to overcome certain issues associated with mobile network which could range from accessibility to cost. In addition, 33% of Nigerians use one line, 17% use 3 lines, while 7% confirmed they use more than 3 lines.
The use of 2 phone lines seems like the norm across all geo-political zones, except for the North-West zone where the higher proportion of the residents use one phone line. The North-East zone (33%: 22%+10%) and the South-West zone (31%: 23%+8%) accounted for the highest proportion of respondents who use 3 or more phone lines.
A 3-year trend analysis on the usage of phone lines in Nigeria revealed a consistent trend of 2 phone line usage by Nigerians from 2012 to 2014, however there was a 5-point reduction in the proportion of Nigerians in this category from 2012 to 2013 and 3-points increase in 2014. More findings revealed that more residents from the North-East zone use more than 3 phone lines in 2014 compared with the past 2 years with a significant increase of 9-points from 2013(1%) to 2014 (10%).
A view of the trend on phone usage across age-groups revealed that Nigerians within the age-group of 18-21 years have increasingly adapted the use of 2 phone lines over the years; from 2012 where it was lowest to
