The number of abandoned mobile lines has reached 96.7 million, threatening telecom revenue

Unused mobile lines in Nigeria peaked at 96.7 million by the end of February 2023, according to the four major mobile network operators. The abandoned lines cut across the networks of MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile, according to the most recent subscriber data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). When a subscriber does not use their mobile lines for 90 days, they are considered inactive. The absence of activities such as making or receiving calls and accessing data services on mobile lines for an extended period of time would result in the lines being declared dormant and labeled inactive. Because they did not generate revenue during the specified period, telecom operators now separate abandoned lines from active lines. The four mobile network operators retained 323.6 million connected phone lines as of February. This figure fell to 226.8 million by the end of February 2023, resulting in a total of 96.7 million inactive mobile lines.With this drop, the revenue generation stream of the telecom operators was negatively hit as they were able to generate revenue from just 70% of their customers during the period.