Tariff hike leads to decline in Nigeria’s internet users – Report

Nigeria’s telecommunications sector witnessed a notable decline in internet users following a 50 per cent tariff hike on voice, data, and SMS services implemented in January 2025.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) made this known in an industry statistics posted on its website.

According to the report, the industry lost approximately one million internet users in February, with the user base shrinking from 142.16 million to 141.25 million.

It said that although a slight recovery was observed in March, with the figure rising to 142.05 million, the sector’s data consumption patterns were significantly impacted.

The NCC data showed a 12 per cent decline in monthly data consumption in February, dropping to 893.06 petabytes from January’s record high of one exabyte.

It, however, said a marginal rebound was recorded in March, with data usage increasing by 11.5 per cent to 995.88 petabytes.

Despite this modest recovery, the report said consumption levels remained slightly below the January peak, suggesting that subscribers continued to exhibit caution in their usage habits due to the increased tariffs.

Meanwhile, the telecom industry demonstrated resilience in other areas, with operators adding 3.39 million new telephone users between January and March.

This growth propelled the total active lines from 169.32 million to 172.71 million, subsequently boosting Nigeria’s teledensity from 78.10 per cent to 79.67 per cent during the same period.

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In terms of market dynamics, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) maintained their dominance in the internet market.

MTN Nigeria led with 75.62 million users, followed by Airtel Nigeria with 48.8 million, Globacom with 15.37 million, and 9mobile with 1.75 million.

MTN also retained its market lead in active telephone lines with 90.5 million subscribers, representing a 52.48 per cent market share, while Airtel followed with 58.3 million users (33.78 per cent), Globacom with 20.7 million (12 per cent), and 9mobile with 2.9 million (1.72 per cent).

The latest industry figures underscore the complexities facing Nigeria’s telecom sector as operators navigate economic pressures and evolving consumer behaviours.

On porting activities, the NCC report noted that Nigeria’s fourth mobile network operator, 9mobile, had continued to experience a decline in its subscriber base, with a total of 5,809 customers porting out of its network both in February and March.

The report showed that other operators recorded insignificant outgoing porting numbers compared to 9mobile.

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It showed that MTN lost 647 customers, Airtel recorded 695 outgoing porting, Globacom recorded 771, while 9mobile lost 5,808 in both February and March.

In terms of incoming porting, MTN gained the most customers from other operators, with 4,855 subscribers joining its network in February and March, the report revealed.

It stated that Airtel recorded 2,084 incoming, while Globacom gained 1007 customers in both months.

The NCC added that 9mobile recorded only three incoming porting customers for both months.

According to the NCC report on incoming and outgoing porting activities of mobile network operators, a total of 7922 subscribers moved from one network to another in February and March.