Lagos, Nigeria – Nigeria’s telecommunications industry has shown strong signs of recovery, with active mobile subscriptions rising to 169.3 million in January 2025, up from 164.9 million in December 2024, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The latest NCC data signals a rebound after a challenging period marked by a sharp decline in subscriptions to 154.9 million in September 2024. The downturn was largely attributed to the mass deactivation of over 42 million SIM cards in February 2024 and the sector-wide rebasing exercise in September.

However, the industry has since regained its growth trajectory, with subscriptions steadily increasing in the final quarter of 2024 and accelerating into early 2025.

MTN and Airtel Drive Market Expansion

Two major network operators, MTN and Airtel, played a key role in the sector’s recovery, significantly expanding their customer base:

• MTN Nigeria, the industry leader, grew its market share to 51.7%, increasing its subscribers to 87.5 million in January 2025, up from 84.6 million in December 2024.
• Airtel Nigeria followed closely, reaching 57.6 million subscribers (34.1%), compared to 56.6 million in December 2024.
• Globacom showed slight improvement, growing from 20.1 million to 20.5 million subscribers, recovering from earlier declines in 2024.
• 9mobile continued to struggle, maintaining a stagnant 3.2 million subscribers for the third consecutive month, a significant drop from its 23.4 million peak in 2015.

This growth has also led to an increase in Nigeria’s teledensity—a measure of active telephone connections per 100 residents—rising to 78.10% in January, up from 76.08% in December.

Rise in Mobile Number Portability

The report also highlighted a surge in mobile number portability (MNP) activities, with 8,708 subscribers switching networks in January 2025, marking a significant increase from the 2,998 recorded in December 2024.

The breakdown of porting activities shows:

• 9mobile experienced the most losses, with 6,716 subscribers leaving its network.
• MTN lost 1,188 customers, Airtel saw 399 exits, while Globacom recorded 405 outgoing ports.
• MTN gained the most new subscribers (5,551), followed by Airtel (2,414) and Globacom (736).
• 9mobile recorded only seven incoming ports, reinforcing its continued struggle in retaining and attracting customers.

Industry Outlook

With subscription numbers rebounding and market confidence growing, analysts predict further expansion in 2025, particularly as regulatory adjustments continue to shape a more competitive telecom sector.