TUESDAY March 4, 2025 |TheNewsDESK
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Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has shown strong recovery, with active subscriptions rising to 169.3 million in January 2025, up from 164.9 million in December 2024.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed this in its latest industry report, on Tuesday, March 4, attributing the rebound to a gradual recovery from last year’s decline, which saw subscriptions drop to 154.9 million in September 2024.

The sharp fall had been linked to the mass deactivation of over 42 million SIM cards in February 2024 and the sector’s rebasing in September.

“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,” the NCC stated.

MTN Nigeria maintained its lead in market share, rising to 51.7 per cent with 87.5 million subscribers in January 2025, up from 84.6 million in December.

Airtel followed, expanding its base to 57.6 million, capturing 34.1 per cent of the market from 56.6 million in the previous month.

Globacom, which suffered subscriber losses due to a regulatory audit earlier in 2024, is gradually rebounding, increasing its subscriber count from 20.1 million in December to 20.5 million in January.

However, 9mobile continues to struggle, with its market share dwindling.

“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,” the NCC report noted.

On mobile number portability, 9mobile saw the highest number of subscribers leaving its network, with 6,716 users porting out in January 2025. In total, 8,708 subscribers switched networks that month, a sharp rise from 2,998 in December 2024.

The NCC’s data showed that MTN gained the most incoming porting customers, adding 5,551 users, while Airtel and Globacom recorded 2,414 and 736 incoming porting activities, respectively. 9mobile, however, saw only seven users switch to its network in January.