MTN Nigeria has crossed the 100 million active subscriber mark for the first time, becoming the first telecommunications operator in Africa to reach the milestone as Nigeria’s mobile market recorded a sharp increase in active subscriptions in July.
The Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC’s) latest industry statistics showed that MTN’s subscriber base rose by 2.22 million during the month, from 98.64 million in June to 100.86 million in July.
The increase means MTN alone accounted for roughly 77 per cent of the 2.88 million additional active mobile subscriptions recorded across Nigeria during the month.
The new milestone means MTN Nigeria now controls 51.76 per cent of the country’s active mobile market, leaving its rivals to compete for the remaining 48.24 per cent of Nigeria’s GSM subscriber base.
Total active mobile subscriptions rose from 192.23 million in June to 195.11 million in July, marking a continued recovery in the country’s telecommunications market following the sharp decline in active lines associated with the enforcement of the National Identification Number (NIN) and Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) linkage requirements.
MTN’s latest growth further widened its lead over Airtel Nigeria, which remained the second-largest operator with about 66.76 million active subscribers in July. Globacom followed with approximately 23.63 million, while T2, formerly 9mobile, had about 3.61 million active subscribers.
The July performance represents a further strengthening of MTN’s position in the Nigerian market. In June, the operator had 98.64 million active subscribers and accounted for 51.38 per cent of the market, ahead of Airtel with 66.12 million subscribers and a 34.44 per cent share.
The latest growth therefore pushed MTN beyond a threshold no other operator in Nigeria has previously reached and places the company’s subscriber base at more than half of the country’s total active mobile subscriptions.
For the wider industry, the July increase is another indication that Nigeria’s mobile market is gradually rebuilding its subscriber base after the disruption caused by the NIN-SIM verification exercise.
Nigeria’s active subscriptions had previously exceeded 200 million before the full impact of the enforcement exercise was felt. The market recorded about 207.6 million active subscriptions in October 2020 and reached approximately 214.35 million in October 2022.
Despite the July recovery, the industry remains below those previous highs. The latest 195.11 million subscriptions leave the market roughly 19 million lines below its October 2022 peak.
For MTN, however, the July figures mark a historic shift in scale, with the operator now serving a subscriber base equivalent to more than half of all active mobile lines in Nigeria.