`The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says active mobile telephone lines in Nigeria have increased to 162 million.

This figure is close to the nation’s population figure which is now put at 195 million.

It said in its monthly Subscribers Operator Data posted on its website on Friday that the mobile lines figure was as at the end of May, adding that it rose from 160 million recorded in April.

With 162, 075,116 lines in May and 160, 081,051 in April, the increase in the number of lines was 1,994,065.

However, the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) for active mobile lines had 217,566 users in May, same as in April.

The report said that the number of fixed wired/wireless for active mobile lines in May was 137, 010 compared to April, which had 136, 496 lines, indicating an increase of 514 lines.

According to NCC, the number of Voice-Over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) was 93,080 in May compared with 89,477 recorded in April, representing a rise of 3,603.

It also revealed that Teledensity rose by 143 in May to 11,609 as against 11,466 in April.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Teledensity is the number of telephone connections for every 100 individuals living within an area and it varies widely across the country.

NCC also said that the number of connected mobile lines in May increased to 240,259,751 from 238,032,318 in April, recording an increase of 2, 227,433.

“The CDMA for connected lines for May was 3,586,095, the same figure with April,’’ the subscribers’ data revealed.

The report said the number of fixed wired/wireless for connected lines in May was 345,210 compared to April that had 344, 892, an increase of 318 lines.

It also showed that the number of VOIP for connected lines in May was 611,376 as against 575,712 in April, rising by 35,644 lines. (NAN)

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