Mobile data subscription figures dip but voice goes up
Mobile Data penetration figures dipped marginally from 15,805,925 subscribers at the end of December 2014 to 15,805,646 January, 2015.
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This puts Ghana’s data penetration rate at 58.90 per cent. This is being largely driven by the increasing number of smartphone usage in the country.
Gainers on data subscriptions
Latest figures revealed by the National Communications Authority (NCA revealed that Vodafone realised an increase of 84,484 subscribers at the end of January with a total figure of 2,952,733 as against 2,868,249 recorded in December. The company now has a market share of 18.68 per cent as of the end of the month under review.
From a subscriber base of 2,130,0332 in December last year, Airtel witnessed an increase in January this year to record 2,155,850 data subscribers. In percentage terms, the company’s mobile data market share now stands at 13.64 per cent.
Tigo also moved up to 2,263,015 data subscribers as compared to the December 2014 figure of 2,097,167 subscribers. Its January market share was 14.32 per cent.
Losers for January
MTN’s subscriber base decreased by a whopping 258,596 subscribers in the period under review, a phenomenon which translated into a market share of 49.01 per cent. From the December 2014 subscriber figure of 8,004,721, MTN’s data subscriber base dropped to 7,746,125 as at the end of January.
Glo’s subscriber base at the end of January also went down to 652,671 as compared to the December 2014 figure of 668,424.
Its market share at the end of the month under review was 4.13 per cent.
Expresso recorded a decrease from December’s figure of 37,331 to end January with 35,252 subscribers. Expresso’s market share for the month was 0.22 per cent.
Market statistics for voice
Ghana’s mobile voice subscriber base has now reached 30,629,604 as at the end of January this year.
This represents an increase of 0.89 per cent over the December 2014 subscriber figure of 30,360,771.
As a result, the penetration rate for the month under review now stands at 115.15 per cent according to new figures released by the industry regulator.
Gainers for voice
In the period under review, five out of the six internationally owned telcos saw a rise in their subscriber numbers.
MTN, the country’s biggest telecom company both by subscriber numbers and financially, saw its subscriber base increase marginally from 13,852,398 at the end of the month of December 2014 to finish January, this year with 13,939,936.
As a result, its market share at the end of the period under review stands at 45.51 per cent.
Similarly, Vodafone’s subscriber base increased to 7,177,032 at the end of January as compared to December’s figure of 7,069,516.
Subsequently, Vodafone’s market share increased from 23.29 per cent in December to 23.43 per cent at the end of January, 2015.
The third biggest player by market share, tiGO, also continued its forward look as its subscriber base increased from 4,133,760 at the end of December last year to end January with 4,202,923 subscribers.
This brings the company’s market share up to 13.72 per cent.
Airtel’s subscriber base also increased to 3,751,135 at the end of the month under review from the December 2014 figure of 3,735,656.
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However, although Airtel recorded a marginal increase in its subscriber base, its market share dipped marginally to 12.25 per cent.
For once in many months in a row, Expresso ended the month of January with a subscriber base of 119,649, indicating an increase from the previous month’s figure of 119,059.
Unfortunately, the company which has been struggling to survive the turbulent competition in the market did not witness any change in its market share which remained at 0.39 per cent.
Loser
Glo, the latest entrant into the telecom competition, saw its subscriber base decrease from the December 2014 figure of 1,450,382 to end January with a figure of 1,438,929, indicating a decrease of 0.78 per cent.
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This translated into a market share of 4.70 per cent, a drop from the previous month’s share of 4.78 per cent.
Voice of the people
In spite of the growing subscriber penetration rate in the country, consumers continue to agitate about a wide range of issues.
For instance, at the recent public forum held by the NCA at Ho in the Volta Region, consumers complained about the quality of service they receive.
They also questioned why the companies were not interested in extending their services to every part of the country as they always advertised.
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The consumers also complained that even within the areas the telcos claim to be strong, the quality fluctuates.