Nigeria’s telecommunications sector is showing signs of recovery, with active subscriptions rising to 169.3 million in January 2025, following months of decline triggered by the mass deactivation of SIM cards.
The Nigerian Communications Commission disclosed this in its latest industry statistics published on its website on Tuesday.
According to the report, the figure represents an increase from 164.9 million recorded in December 2024, driven by growth from major operators—MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria.
The NCC noted that the surge comes after a challenging period, which saw subscriptions drop to 154.9 million in September 2024, following the deactivation of over 42 million SIM cards in February as part of the regulatory clean-up exercise.
This growth momentum has also boosted the country’s tele density—the measure of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants—to 78.10 per cent in January 2025, up from 76.08 per cent in December 2024.
The report showed that MTN Nigeria maintained its market leadership, expanding its subscriber base to 87.5 million in January, up from 84.6 million in the previous month—representing 51.7 per cent of the market share.
Airtel Nigeria followed with 57.6 million subscribers, increasing from 56.6 million in December 2024, to hold 34.1 per cent of the market share.
The NCC’s statistics indicated that Globacom recorded modest growth, rising from 20.1 million subscribers in December to 20.5 million in January, while 9mobile’s subscriber base remained almost stagnant at 3.2 million for three consecutive months.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
NEWS UPDATE: Get paid up to ₦120,000 per referral, payouts are sent to you within 24hours. Refer colleagues, friends, family, church members etc. Our approval process is STRICT, we desire only QUALITY REFEERALS. No fees required from you.
Click here to apply.