The Nigerian mobile market is fast becoming the largest in Africa, says ICT market research analyst firm BMI-TechKnowledge.
The country`s gross mobile subscriber base grew more than twofold to reach 18.6 million subscribers at the end of 2005 and is expected to achieve over 37 million subscribers by 2008, it said in a statement.
The latest assessment of Nigerian telecommunications opportunities is covered in the BMI-T publication entitled "The Nigerian Telecommunications Market 2006".
Stephane Tchies, analyst and author of the report, says subscriber growth in the GSM mobile market is expected to maintain its momentum throughout the forecast period to 2010, as operators increase their network coverage and more low-end subscribers are added to the networks.
"The GSM mobile market is expected to continue its aggressive growth path with a gross subscriber base of 52 million by the end of 2010 being regarded as a reasonable scenario, representing almost 40 million unique individuals. In addition, the introduction of the Unified Licence Regime, early in 2006, is expected to fuel competition in the Nigerian telecoms sector and drive new opportunities and benefits for consumers," adds Tchies.
The report also highlights the fact that although the fixed-line incumbent Nitel has experienced a decline in recent years, the operator`s fortunes could change towards the end of 2007, following the successful sale of equity to Transcorp in 2006.
The fixed wireless sector of the market will continue to maintain a steady growth during the forecast period, but will face stiffer competition from the major players in the wake of the introduction of the Unified Licence Regime, said BMI-T.
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