9mobile Suffers as Nigerians Switch to MTN, Other Telecommunication Networks
- As of April 2025, MTN Nigeria leads the industry in inward porting with 3,960 subscribers, followed by Airtel with 1,860 and Globacom with 966
- In terms of outward porting, 9mobile had the highest number of users leaving its network, with 5,042 outported, while MTN had 219
- Overall, MTN has maintained the highest number of inward portings over the past year, with Airtel and Globacom following behind
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Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission's (NCC) most recent Mobile Number Portability (MNP) statistics, MTN Nigeria leads the industry in inward porting (incoming telecom subscribers), with 3,960 subscribers as of April 2025. MTN Nigeria holds the largest market share, at 52.42 percent.
Source: UGC
ThisDay analysed that MTN is followed by Airtel, which, as of April 2025, reported 1,860 inward portings, and Globacom, which reported 966 inward portings. Only three inward portings were reported by 9mobile, the last company to enter the GSM market. This means that 6,789 telecom users participated in inward porting overall.
However, when it comes to outward porting, 9mobile had the most telecom users leave its network, with 5,042 in total. Globacom came in second with 1,233 outward portings, and Airtel had 295 outward portings. As of April 2025, MTN reported that 219 subscribers had been outported.
The number of subscribers who transfer from one network to another is known as inward porting, while the number of subscribers who leave one network for another is known as outward porting.
Telecom customers are permitted to switch networks in pursuit of higher service quality under the terms of mobile number portability, while retaining their original GSM number on the new network. However, the regulation requires that all subscribers who port must stay on their new network for ninety days before they can switch to another network.
According to the NCC data, MTN has maintained the highest number of inward portings over the last year. As of April 2024, MTN recorded a total of 2,482 inward portings, followed by Airtel, which recorded 784 inward portings, and Globacom, which recorded 370 inward portings. 9mobile recorded 33 inward portings.
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More Nigerian ports in 2025
Airtel recorded 2,414 inward portings as of January 2025, Globacom recorded 736 inward portings, and MTN recorded a total of 5,551 inward portings. Seven inward portings were noted by 9mobile.
Airtel recorded 1,299 inward portings as of February 2025, Globacom recorded 659 inward portings, and MTN recorded a total of 2,899 inward portings. One inward porting was noted by 9mobile.
In March 2025, MTN recorded 1,956 inward portings, while Airtel and Globacom recorded 758 and 348 inward portings on average, respectively. Two inward portings were noted by 9mobile.
NCC orders MTN, Airtel, others to compensate customers
Legit.ng reported that About nine Nigerian states suffered network disruptions in the first week of June 2025 due to multiple fibre cuts.
This is according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) live incident portal.
According to the data, the disruptions affected the four major operators, including Airtel, MTN, 9Mobile, and Glo, with disruptions reported in Rivers, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Benue, Anambra, Imo, Abia, and Akwa Ibom states.
The report showed that fibre cuts accounted for most of the outages in the period under review, which affected several services, including data, voice calls, SMS, and USSD.
Per the report, Airtel was the worst hit, as it suffered fibre cuts between June through June 5, 2025.
The NCC data showed that the first cut occurred in June in Rivers State, affecting data services in Degema, Obio-Akpo, and Port Harcourt for about two hours.
Nigeria emerges second fastest-growing telecoms market
Legit.ng reported that Despite the challenges facing the telecommunications sector, Nigeria has emerged as one of the fastest-growing telecom markets, according to the PwC Global Telecoms Outlook report.
The same report predicts a 9.2% annual growth for Nigeria up till 2028, second only to India, which has a 17.2% projected annual growth rate, and ahead of Malaysia’s 9% annual growth.
This projection is also higher than the projected 2.9% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for the period, showing that the Nigerian telecoms market still has strong demand for connectivity and broadband infrastructure.
Source: Legit.ng
