Nigeria’s Telecom Sector Rebounds with 169.3 Million Subscriptions

On Mar 4, 2025

Nigeria’s telecom industry saw a significant recovery in January 2025, with 169.3 million active subscriptions, up from 164.9 million in December 2024.

This information was revealed by industry figures published on the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) website.

The NCC attributed this recovery to the sector’s rebound following a period of decline, where subscriptions had dropped to 154.9 million in September 2024.

This decline was primarily due to the mass deactivation of over 42 million SIM cards in February 2024 and the sector’s rebasing in September 2024.

The telecoms regulator highlighted that the sector had gradually regained momentum, with subscriptions increasing to 164.9 million in December 2024, before reaching 169.3 million in January 2025.

The growth was driven by two network operators, MTN and Airtel, which recorded an increase in their subscriber base during the period under review.

This growth also boosted the country’s teledensity to 78.10%, up from 76.08% in December 2024.

Regarding market share, MTN Nigeria strengthened its position by increasing its market share to 51.7% with 87.5 million subscribers in January 2025, up from 84.6 million in December 2024.

Airtel also showed resilience, expanding its subscriber base to 57.6 million with a market share of 34.1%, up from 56.6 million in the previous month.

Earlier and current NCC statistics indicated that Globacom, which experienced a decline in subscribers earlier in 2024 due to a regulatory audit, was gradually recovering.

Globacom’s subscriber base grew from 20.1 million in December 2024 to 20.5 million in January 2025. In contrast, 9mobile’s market share continued to decline.

The company’s stagnant subscriber base of 3.2 million for three consecutive months accentuated this decline, a far cry from its previous dominance with 23.4 million subscribers and a 15.7% market share in 2015.

Industry statistics showed that 9mobile continued to experience a decline in its subscriber base, with 6,716 customers porting out of its network in January 2025.

According to the NCC’s report on incoming and outgoing porting activities of mobile network operators, a total of 8,708 subscribers switched networks in January 2025.

Other operators recorded insignificant outgoing porting numbers compared to 9mobile.

The NCC reported that MTN lost 1,188 customers, Airtel recorded 399 outgoing porting, Globacom recorded 405, while 9mobile lost 6,716 in January 2025.

In terms of incoming porting, MTN gained the most customers from other operators, with 5,551 subscribers joining its network.

Airtel recorded 2,414 incoming porting, while Globacom gained 736 customers. Meanwhile, 9mobile recorded only seven incoming porting activities for January 2025.

The report noted a significant increase in porting activities in January 2025 compared to December 2024, with a total of 2,998 activities recorded in December 2024, while January 2025 saw 8,708 porting activities, representing an increase of 5,710 in mobile number portability activities.

NAN