Nigeria’s 169.3m telecoms subscriber base raises teledensity to 78.20 percent

*The Nigerian Communications Commission discloses the country’s active subscriptions rose to 169.3 million January 2025, after several months of decline, largely induced by the mass deactivation of over 42 Subscriber Identity Module Cards not linked with telecoms consumers’ National Identification Numbers in the ecosystem

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

The latest growth momentum in the Nigerian telecoms industry has also boosted the West African country’s teledensity from 76.08 percent December 2024 to 78.10 percent January 2025.

ConsumerConnect reports the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed these industry statistics Tuesday, March 4, in a report published on its corporate Web site.

The NCC said the telecommunications sector of the economy showed signs of recovery with active subscriptions rising to 169.3 million January 2025.

It is noted the development followed several months of decline, which was largely induced by the mass deactivation of over 42 million Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Cards not linked with telecoms consumers’ National Identification Numbers (NINs) in the ecosystem.

The Commission’s report further indicated the figure represents an increase from 164.9 million recorded December 2024, resulting from growth recorded by MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and Airtel Nigeria, two major Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).

The telecoms sector regulatory Commission also explained the increase came after a challenging period, which saw subscriptions drop to 154.9 million September 2024, following the deactivation of over 42 million SIM Cards February as part of the regulatory clean-up exercise in Nigeria.

Increased subscriber base boosts Nigeria’s teledensity

The industry report suggested the new growth momentum has also boosted Nigeria’s teledensity, which is described as the measure of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants, to 78.10 percent January 2025, up from hitherto 76.08 percent December last year.

The Commission stated that MTN Nigeria maintained its market leadership, expanding its subscriber base to 87.5 million January, up from 84.6 million in the previous month, representing 51.7 percent of the market share in the country’s telecoms environment.

Aside from this, the report showed Airtel Nigeria trailed MTN with 57.6 million telecoms subscribers, increasing from 56.6 million in December 2024, to hold 34.1 percent of the entire market share.

According to NCC, the industry report indicated that Globacom operators of Glo Mobile, also recorded modest growth.

It stated the telecoms company grew its subscriber base from 20.1 million consumers December last year to 20.5 million January 2025, whereas 9mobile’s subscriber base remained almost stagnant at 3.2 million for three consecutive months during the period.