On average, over 75% of subscribers that switched networks ported from 9mobile, peaking at over 90% in September 2024

Key Takeaways:

  • 9mobile consistently tops the port-out chart, averaging over 75% of all outgoing ports over 24 months.
  • The highest subscriber loss from 9mobile occurred in September 2024, with 90.38% of all ports.
  • Airtel and Globacom show relatively stable port-out shares, rarely crossing 15%, with occasional surges. MTN has the lowest overall port-out rates, peaking at 13.64% in January 2025.
  • Total port-outs to other service providers surged by 127%, from 2,992 in May 2023 to 6,789 in April 2025.
  • The highest port transfer to another provider occurred in September 2024, with 7,886 total departures, and 9mobile recording 7,127 losses (90.38%).
  • Globacom’s outflow increased sharply from the July 2023 low, reaching 18.16% in April 2025.
  • Airtel maintained relatively low but fluctuating port-out rates, hitting its highest at 14.61% in October 2023.

Between May 2023 and April 2025, 9mobile consistently recorded the highest share of customer exits, often accounting for 70% to 90% of total monthly port-outs. This persistent trend suggests ongoing customer dissatisfaction or competitive disadvantages.

Airtel and Globacom maintained modest port-out rates, while MTN displayed strong customer retention. MTN's port-out rates were mostly below 8%, except for a notable jump to 13.64% in January 2025. Globacom reported its highest customer loss rate of 24.1% in June 2023, while Airtel's highest loss share was in October 2023 at 14.6%.

Source:

Nigerian Communications Commission

Period:

May 2023 - April 2025
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MTN added the most subscriptions, while Airtel recorded faster growth
  • MTN became Nigeria’s first operator to cross 100 million active subscriptions.
  • MTN added 7.8 million subscriptions between December 2025 and July 2026.
  • Airtel grew faster than MTN, despite adding fewer subscriptions overall.
  • T2 recorded the fastest growth at 11.9% over the period.
  • Nigeria’s active subscriptions rose by 15.5 million to 194.9 million.

Samsung’s mobile vendor share is particularly strong in Southern Africa
  • Samsung exceeds 50% share in 4 African countries, led by Somalia at 66.9%.
  • Its share exceeds 40% in 16 countries, including Ethiopia, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
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  • Samsung’s share is much lower in major markets, including Nigeria (16.3%), Egypt (22.9%) and Ghana (24.7%).
  • Samsung holds a 32.0% share across Africa, based on mobile web traffic rather than device sales.

Apple's mobile vendor share exceeds 25% in seven African countries, led by Seychelles at 37.6%
  • Apple exceeds 25% share in 7 African countries, led by Seychelles at 37.6%.
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  • South Africa trails just below 25%, with a 24.8% share.
  • Nigeria’s 17.9% share is close to Africa’s 18.7% average, despite its market size.
  • These figures measure web traffic, not device sales or installed smartphone base.

Nigeria’s top 3 ISPs — Spectranet, Starlink, and FiberOne — account for a combined 63.3% of the market
  • Spectranet leads with 111,384 subscribers, ahead of Starlink's 98,642.
  • Starlink added 6,651 subscribers since December 2025, narrowing the gap to 12,742.
  • Fieldbase Services overtook ipNX for 4th place by just 18 subscribers.
  • The top three ISPs account for over 63% of Nigeria's 420,989 active subscribers.

Volume of internet data consumed in Nigeria in May 2026
  • 1.5 million TB was consumed in May 2026, the highest monthly level on record.
  • 7 million TB was consumed in Jan–May 2026, up 42.1% from the same period in 2025.
  • Jan–May 2026 usage was 88.4% higher than in 2024 and 156.3% higher than in 2023.
  • May’s monthly usage was nearly 2.6× the level recorded three years earlier.
  • The surge points to rapidly growing demand for internet-based services, content and digital activity in Nigeria.

In 2023, about 1 in 6 Nigerians were still on 3G; by 2026, that's down to about 1 in 20
  • 3G's share of Nigeria's mobile market fell from 16.5% to 5.1% between May 2023 and May 2026.
  • 4G became the dominant network, with its market share rising from 25.1% to 54.3% over the same period.
  • 2G's share declined from 58.4% to 36.1% but still accounted for more than one-third of all mobile connections.
  • 5G expanded nearly 37-fold, growing from less than 0.1% to 4.5% of mobile subscriptions.

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