MTN, AIRTEL LEADS AS SUBSCRIPTION RISE

It said that the decline in subscriptions was largely due to the mass deactivation of over 42 million SIM cards in February 2024 and the sector’s rebasing in September 2024.

The NCC, however, noted that the sector had gradually regained momentum, with subscriptions increasing to 164,926,599 in December 2024 before reaching the current high of 169,318,076 in January 2025.

“The growth was driven by two network operators, MTN and Airtel, that recorded an increase in their subscriber base in the month under review.

“This growth momentum has also boosted the country’s teledensity, which measures the penetration of active telephone connections to 78.10 per cent, marking a significant increase from the 76.08 per cent recorded in December 2024,” it said.

On market share,  statistics showed that MTN Nigeria solidified its position by increasing its market share to 51.7 per cent, with 87.5 million subscribers in January 2025 up from 84.6 million in December 2024.

It said that Airtel also demonstrated resilience, expanding its subscriber base to 57.6 million with a market share of 34.1 per cent, up from 56.6 million in the preceding month.

Earlier and current NCC statistics showed that Globacom, which faced a decline in subscribers earlier in 2024 due to a regulatory audit, was gradually showing signs of recovery.

It showed that Globacom grew its subscriber base from 20.1 million in December 2024 to 20.5 million in January 2025.

On the other hand, the statistics showed that 9mobile’s market share continued to decline.

“This decline is a far cry from 9mobile’s erstwhile dominance, when it boasted 23.4 million subscribers and a 15.7 per cent market share in 2015.

“The company’s stagnant subscriber base, which has remained unchanged at 3.2 million for three consecutive months, further accentuates this decline,” it said.

On porting activities, industry statistics showed that Nigeria’s fourth mobile network operator, 9mobile, has continued to experience a decline in its subscriber base, with 6716 customers porting out of its network in January.