By Oyinkansayo Wole-Bodunde
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reported a decline in internet services consumption in the telecommunications sector.
This decline comes after the 50% tariff hike on voice, data, and SMS services implemented by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in January 2025.
According to the NCC’s industry statistics, the telecoms sector lost around 1 million internet users in February, dropping from 142.16 million to 141.25 million. Although there was a slight recovery in March with 142.05 million users, the sector’s data consumption patterns were significantly affected.
The NCC report noted a 12% decline in monthly data consumption in February, from 1 exabyte to 893.06 petabytes. However, there was a marginal rebound in March with an 11.5% increase to 995.88 petabytes.
The report showed the telecoms industry’s resilience in other areas, with network operators adding 3.39 million new telephone users between January and March. This growth increased total active lines from 169.32 million to 172.71 million, boosting Nigeria’s Teledensity from 78.10% to 79.67%.
Market dynamics showed Mobile Network Operators maintaining dominance in the internet market. MTN Nigeria Communications Plc led with 75.62 million users, Airtel Nigeria followed with 48.8 million, Globacom had 15.37 million and 9mobile had 1.75 million.
In terms of active telephone lines, MTN retained its market lead with 90.5 million subscribers (52.48% market share), Airtel had 58.3 million users (33.78%), Globacom had 20.7 million (12%) and 9mobile had 2.9 million (1.72%).
The report also showed porting activities, with 9mobile experiencing a decline in its subscriber base, losing 5,809 customers between February and March. Other network operators recorded insignificant outgoing porting numbers compared to 9mobile.
Incoming porting showed MTN gaining the most subscribers from other operators with 4,855 subscribers joining its network in February and March. Airtel recorded 2,084 incoming portings, Globacom gained 1,007 customers and 9mobile recorded only 3 incoming port-ins.
A total of 7,922 subscribers moved from one network to another between February and March this year, according to the NCC.
