Telecom operator 9mobile, recently rebranded as T2, recorded its first subscriber growth in nearly a year, adding 290,601 new users in July. The gain, attributed to its new infrastructure-sharing partnership with MTN, marked a rare rebound for the struggling operator.
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), 9mobile was the only major operator to grow its customer base in July, while MTN, Airtel, and Globacom all recorded losses. The overall number of active mobile subscriptions in Nigeria fell from 171.5 million in June to 169.1 million in July.
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Airtel suffered the steepest decline, losing 2.4 million users and dropping to 56.5 million subscriptions. MTN shed 106,345 users, bringing its total to 89.1 million, while Globacom lost 143,701 subscribers, leaving it with 20.7 million.
Despite its gains, 9mobile remains a distant fourth with just 1.61 percent of the market, compared to MTN’s dominant 52.7 percent and Airtel’s 33.42 percent. Globacom holds 12.26 percent.
The decline in active lines pushed Nigeria’s teledensity — the number of active telephone lines per 100 inhabitants — down to 78.11 percent in July, from 79.22 percent in June, based on an estimated population of 216 million.
