OVER 8,000 TELECOM CUSTOMERS SWITCHED SERVICE PROVIDERS IN JANUARY

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The Nigerian Communications Commission reported that 8,708 users switched networks in January 2025, a 190% increase in mobile number portability in Nigeria, compared to 2,998 in December 2024.

9mobile lost the most customers, according to the report, with 6,716 users switching to rival networks. Previously having a dominant position in the market, the operator has had difficulties recently.

For the past three months, its subscriber base has stayed at 3.2 million, which is a much smaller number than the 23.4 million it had in 2015, when it had a 15.7% market share. 9mobile only added seven new users by porting in January, despite the increase in porting activities.

Growing discontent with service quality and cost is reflected in the rise in porting activity, which drives subscribers to look for better alternatives.

Globacom, MTN, and Airtel profited from the trend. Through porting, MTN added 5,551 new users while losing 1,188 to rival networks.

Globacom saw 736 incoming subscribers and 405 leaving, while Airtel added 2,414 porting users and lost 399.

Poor network quality, competitive pricing, and better customer service from competing providers are some of the reasons for the increase in porting.

Massive SIM disconnections resulted from the NCC’s 2024 market disruption caused by the enforcement of the National Identification Number-SIM linkage. Now, some of the affected customers are coming back, although they are using new networks.

In the meantime, the telecom industry had a notable upturn in January 2025, as active mobile subscriptions increased from 164.9 million in December 2024 to 169.3 million in January 2025.

The largest telecom company in Nigeria, MTN, now has 87.5 million users after adding 2.9 million new customers.

Between December 2024 and January 2025, Airtel’s customer base increased from 56.6 million to 57.6 million.

Additionally, Globacom, which had previously lost customers as a result of regulatory checks, reported a minor uptick in users, going from 20.1 million to 20.5 million.

9mobile, on the other hand, was still having trouble; for the third straight month, its subscriber base remained at 3.2 million.