MTN Nigeria solidified its position in the Nigerian telecom market as it crossed 90 million active subscriptions mark in March 2025.
This is according to the latest industry statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which shows that total active mobile subscriptions across the four mobile networks increased to 172.4 million in March.
The data shows that the mobile network operators are gradually recovering after last year’s NIN-SIM audit that wiped out over 60 million subscriptions from their database.
Market share
Of the total mobile subscriptions, MTN accounted for 52.48% of the market share with 90.4 million active connections.
- Airtel Nigeria, the second largest operator, retained its position with 33.78% of the market share. Airtel’s total active subscriptions as of March stood at 58.2 million according to the NCC’s data.
- Globacom, the distant third player, ended March with 20.7 million active subscriptions and accounted for 12.01% of the market share.
- 9mobile remained in the abyss with 2.8 million subscriptions. The telecom operator that has witnessed a consistent decline in customers now accounts for only 1.72% of the telecom market share.
While other operators recorded an increase in their active subscriptions between February and March, 9mobile’s figure remained static, an indication that there was no new activation or exit from the network in one month.
While consistently poor service has seen millions of customers leave 9mobile, the stability recorded between February and March is attributable to customers’ inability to port out of the network in the period.
The many troubles of 9mobile
The incessant complaints by the subscribers over deteriorating service quality and their inability to port from the network to another network had led to widespread rumors that 9mobile was shutting down in March.
In response to that, 9mobile, in a statement released by its management, admitted that its subscribers had been facing difficulties in porting but denied putting in place any restriction.
“9mobile categorically refutes the false and misleading rumours suggesting an alleged shutdown of our operations in Nigeria.
“These claims are entirely baseless and aimed at causing unnecessary panic among our valued subscribers.
We understand that some customers have recently faced challenges, particularly with Mobile Number Portability (MNP), a service that enables seamless network switching.
“We want to clarify that 9mobile has never restricted customers from porting to other networks,” the company stated.
9mobile blames technical issue
While insisting that it remains fully compliant with industry regulations and is committed to delivering fair, transparent, and customer-focused services, 9mobile said the issues being faced by its customers were a result of “temporary technical challenges.”
“These issues have now been largely resolved. Some minor delays may still occur due to ongoing system optimizations, but we are actively working to ensure a smoother experience for all users,” it added.
- The company said it remains resilient and steadfast in its commitment to overcoming challenges as a proudly Nigerian brand.
- 9mobile also acknowledged the service disruptions being experienced by some of its customers across different locations in the country, adding that “these disruptions are part of a broader transformation effort aimed at modernizing our infrastructure and improving overall service quality.
It further stated that its ongoing investments in network upgrades and service expansion would soon yield significant improvements, ensuring reliable connectivity for individuals, businesses, and communities.