- Subscribers: MTN, 87.5m, Airtel, 57.6m, Globacom, 20.5m, 9mobile 3.2m
- FCCPC to arraign MTN CEO, others May 28 over alleged violations
- Reps order Multichoice to halt subscription hike
Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has witnessed a robust recovery, with active subscriptions surging to 169.3 million in January 2025, up from 164.9 million in December 2024.
The Nigerian Communications Commission made this known in an industry statistics on its website.
The telecoms regulator said that this robust recovery followed a period of decline, which saw subscriptions plummet to 154,904,827 in September 2024.
It said that the decline in subscriptions was largely due to the mass deactivation of over 42 million SIM cards in February 2024 and the sector’s rebasing in September 2024.
The NCC, however, noted that the sector had gradually regained momentum, with subscriptions increasing to 164,926,599 in December 2024, before reaching the current high of 169,318,076 in January 2025.
“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,” it said.
On market share, the industry statistics showed that MTN Nigeria solidified its position by increasing its market share to 51.7 per cent with 87.5 million subscribers in January 2025, up from 84.6 million in December 2024.
It said that Airtel also demonstrated resilience, expanding its subscriber base to 57.6 million with a market share of 34.1 per cent, up from 56.6 million in the preceding month.
Earlier and current NCC statistics showed that Globacom, which faced a decline in subscribers earlier in 2024 due to a regulatory audit, was gradually showing signs of recovery.
It showed that Globacom grew its subscriber base from 20.1 million in December 2024 to 20.5 million in January 2025.
On the other hand, the statistics showed that 9mobile’s market share continued to decline.
“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,” it said.
On porting activities, industry statistics showed that Nigeria’s fourth mobile network operator, 9mobile, has continued to experience a decline in its subscriber base, with 6716 customers porting out of its network in January.
According to the NCC’s report on incoming and outgoing porting activities of mobile network operators, a total of 8708 subscribers moved from one network to another in January.
The report showed that other operators recorded insignificant outgoing porting numbers compared to 9mobile.
According to the NCC, MTN lost 1188 customers, Airtel recorded 399 outgoing porting, Globacom recorded 405, while 9mobile lost 6716 in January.
In terms of incoming porting, MTN gained the most customers from other operators, with 5,551 subscribers joining its network, the regulatory body revealed.
The report showed that Airtel recorded 2414 incoming porting, while Globacom gained 736 customers.
Meanwhile, the NCC statistics noted that 9mobile recorded only seven incoming porting for the month of January.
Looking at the report, we can see that there were more incoming and outgoing porting activities in January 2025 than December 2024.
It said that a total of 2998 activities were recorded in December 2024 while January 2025 had 8708 porting activities.
The report revealed an increase of 5710 in mobile number portability activities in January 2025 when compared to December 2024.
FCCPC to arraign MTN CEO, others May 28 over alleged violations
In a related development, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission will on May 28, arraign the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Karl Toriola.
Toriola, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, and others will be arraigned over the alleged failure to produce documents and information required by the commission in compliance with a lawful summons, contrary to the FCCPC Act.
The company and its CEO will be arraigned alongside Tobechukwu Okigbo, MTN’s Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, and Ikenna Ikeme, General Manager, Regulatory Affairs of MTN, before Justice H.J. Yilwa of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
FCCPC had, in the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/354/2024, named MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Toriola, Okigbo, and Ikeme as the 1st to 4th suspects, respectively.
The suspects were charged with two counts in the charge, dated July 19, 2024, and filed on July 22, 2024, by a team of lawyers led by Akoji Achimugu.
When the matter was called, they were not in court.
Justice Yilwa asked the FCCPC lawyer, Chizenum Nsitem, about the whereabouts of the suspects.
Nsitem informed the court that though the matter was scheduled for the arraignment of the suspects, he was just briefed about the case and would need more time to study the case file.
The judge adjourned the matter until May 28 for arraignment.
The Nigerian Copyright Commission had earlier filed charges against MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd; its CEO, Toriola; MTN Senior Executive Officer, Nkeakam Abhulimen; Fun Mobile Ltd, a telecommunications service provider; and Yahaya Maibe, its CEO.
The NCC, in the three-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/111/2024, presently before Justice Inyang Ekwo of a sister court, filed it on March 20, 2024.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants, between 2010 and 2017, “offered for sale, sold, and traded for business, infringed musical works of Maleke Moye, an artiste, without his consent and authorisation.”
The commission alleged that the defendants used Maleke’s musical works and sound recordings with subsisting copyright, known as “caller ringback tunes,” without the authorisation of the artist.
The musical works and sound recordings of the musician allegedly infringed upon include 911, Minimini-Wana Wana, Stop Racism, Ewole, 911 Instrumental, Radio, Low Waist, and No Bother.
They were also alleged to have illegally distributed the musical works to their subscribers without authorisation, thereby infringing on the rights of the artist.
In the third count, the suspects were alleged to have had in their possession the musical works and sound recordings of the artist, other than for their personal or domestic use.
The copyright commission said the alleged offence is punishable under Section 20 (2) (a), (b), and (c) of the Copyright Act, Cap. C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Justice Ekwo had, on February 25, adjourned the matter until May 15 for a report, following the Attorney-General of the Federation’s interest in taking over the case.
Reps order Multichoice to halt subscription hike
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has ordered the immediate suspension of the recently announced subscription price hike by Multichoice Nigeria, the owners of DStv and GOtv.
The Green Chamber also mandated an investigation into the frequent price increases imposed by the pay-TV giant.
Adopting a motion of urgent public importance raised by the lawmaker representing Oredo Federal Constituency, Esosa Iyawe, at the plenary session on Tuesday, the House decried the move by Multichoice to raise subscription rates by 20%-25%, barely a year after a similar hike in May 2024.
Last week, it announced an increase in the cost of subscriptions for its DStv and GOtv packages.
The hike comes less than a year after the company last raised its subscription rates. In an email to customers, the pay-TV provider stated that the new prices would take effect from March 1.
Multichoice attributed the price increase to rising operational costs.
“Due to prevailing economic conditions leading to increased business expenses, we have unavoidably had to adjust the prices of our DStv and GOtv subscription packages.
“We understand the impact this change may have on our valued customers, and this decision was made only after careful consideration and thorough analysis. Our mission remains to provide the best entertainment to our esteemed viewers, and we remain committed to delivering high-quality content and exceptional service across Nigeria,” the company said.
However, Iyawe expressed concerns that a similar increase in May 2024 sparked public outrage, saying many Nigerians who were already dealing with the rising costs of living were forced to ditch their decoders even as they lamented the lack of competition in the pay-TV sector.
According to him, due to the dominant position of Multichoice in pay-TV, price increases always have a widespread impact and put consumers under undue pressure.
He said the most recent hike in subscription prices has triggered widespread criticism from subscribers, many of whom have taken to social media to express their frustration over frequent price hikes without a corresponding improvement in service quality and the seeming aloof stance of the government towards the situation.
Adopting the motion, the House called on Multichoice Nigeria to suspend its proposed increase in subscription prices pending exhaustive investigations.
It also mandated its Committee on Commerce to investigate the arbitrary increase in subscription prices by Multichoice with a view to ensuring the implementation of cost-effective policies in the pay-TV sector for consumers in Nigeria.
The committee is expected to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.
