GLOBAL MOBILE SUBSCRIPTIONS: NIGERIA AMONG TOP 5 COUNTRIES BY NET ADDITIONS IN Q1 2018

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Mobile Subscriptions Shrink By Three Million
Mobile Subscriptions Shrink By Three Million

The total number of mobile subscriptions was around 7.9 billion in Q1 2018, with 98 million new subscriptions added during the quarter.

Key findings

  • During Q1 2018, 98 million new mobile subscriptions were added globally.
  • The total number of mobile subscriptions was around 7.9 billion in Q1 2018.
  • China had the most net additions in Q1, likely due to intense competition among operators.
  • There are now 5.5 billion mobile broadband subscriptions.
  • Global subscription penetration in Q1 2018 was 104 per cent.

The number of mobile subscriptions grew at 4 per cent year-on-year, reaching 7.9 billion in Q1. China had the most net additions during the quarter (+53 million), followed by India (+16 million), Indonesia (+6 million), Nigeria (+3 million) and Bangladesh (+2 million). The high growth in China during the quarter is likely the result of intense competition among operators, driving up the number of subscribers with multiple subscriptions.

The number of mobile broadband subscriptions1 is growing at 20 per cent year-on-year, increasing by 200 million in Q1 2018. The total is now 5.5 billion.

The number of LTE subscriptions increased by 210 million during the quarter to reach a total of 2.9 billion. The net addition for WCDMA/HSPA was around 10 million subscriptions.

Over the same period, GSM/EDGE-only subscriptions declined by 90 million. Other technologies declined by around 32 million.

Subscriptions associated with smartphones now account for around 60 per cent of all mobile phone subscriptions. The number of smartphones sold declined to around 340 million in Q1, representing around 85 per cent of all mobile phones sold in the quarter.

There are now 5.5 billion mobile broadband subscriptions.

Top 5 countries by net additions Q1 2018

1. China +53 million
2. India +16 million
3. Indonesia +6 million
4. Nigeria +3 million
5. Bangladesh +2 million

The number of mobile subscriptions exceeds the population in many countries, which is largely due to inactive subscriptions, multiple device ownership or optimization of subscriptions for different types of calls.

As a result, the number of subscribers is lower than the number of subscriptions. Today, there are around 5.3 billion subscribers globally compared to 7.9 billion subscriptions.

104 per cent global subscription penetration in Q1 2018.

1  Mobile broadband includes radio access technologies HSPA (3G), LTE (4G), 5G, CDMA2000 EV-DO, TD-SCDMA and Mobile WiMAX