By 
By Oluwatobi Opusunju
The contribution of the telecoms sector to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased from 8.66% in Q4 2017 to 9.19% in Q1 2018.The Industry Statistics Data published on the website of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed to underscore a significant growth in the telecoms sector despite recession and sectorial challenges.
The report also revealed that active subscribers have increased from 160,524,590 in April 2018 to 162,522,772 lines at the end of May, signaling an increase of about two million subscribers in the space of one month.
Although there was no increase recorded for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) for active mobile lines as it had 217,566 users in May, same as in April, Global System for Mobile communications(GSM) recorded a significant increase with 162,075,116 in May as against 160,081,051 in April.
The report added that the number of fixed wired/wireless for active mobile lines in May was 137, 010 compared to April, which had 136, 496 lines, representing an increase of 514 lines, while the number of Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) rose to 93,080 in May compared with 89,477 in April, indicating a rise of 3,603.
Rising Teledensity
The report also revealed that Teledensity in the sector also rose to 116.09% from 114.66 % in April.Teledensity is the number of telephone connections for every 100 individuals living within an area and it varies widely across the country.In this case, the teledensity is calculated based on a national population of 140 million according to 2006 last census population figures.
The regulator also said the number of connected mobile lines in May increased to 240,259,751 from 238,032,318 in April, showing an increase of 2, 227,433, while connected CDMA lines stood at the same figure in May as it was in April with 3,586,095 lines.
The report said the fixed wired/wireless for connected lines had 345,210 in May as against 344, 892 in April, whilethe number of VOIP for connected lines in May was 611,376 as against 575,712 in April, signaling an increase of 318 lines and35,644 lines respectively.
Additionally, the report also shows an addition of about two million active internet subscribers in the country. Active internet subscribers rose to 103,152,726 in May as against 101,209,503 in April.
