The final word beneficiary of the telecoms quantity portability marketing campaign is the media.
Nigeria’s telecommunications sector noticed information consumption surge previous 13.2 million terabytes in 2025, whilst development in cell subscriptions slowed, signalling a shift in Africa’s largest telecom market from speedy consumer growth to heavier information utilization by current subscribers.
Trade information for December 2025 present complete energetic cell subscriptions rising modestly to 179.64 million, up from 177.43 million in November, whereas teledensity edged larger to 82.87 %.
Regardless of the month-on-month enchancment, subscriber development remained uneven all through 2025, with teledensity fluctuating and struggling to maintain a transparent upward trajectory, pointing to a market nearing saturation.
In sharp distinction, web utilization expanded quickly. In accordance with the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC), month-to-month figures underline the acceleration. Web information utilization climbed to 1.39 million TB in December 2025, up from 1.24 million TB in November, capping a yr of robust development pushed by streaming, digital funds, distant work, on-line schooling and social media utilization.
Learn additionally: Rising data demand masks Nigeria’s slowing mobile expansion
Broadband adoption continued to rise alongside information demand. Web subscriptions elevated to 112.67 million in December, lifting broadband penetration to 51.97 %, in contrast with 50.58 % a month earlier.
The information counsel that whereas fewer new cell customers are coming onto networks, current subscribers are consuming considerably extra information.
Market focus stays excessive. MTN Nigeria retained its lead with 93.06 million subscribers, accounting for 51.87 % of the market, adopted by Airtel with 60.89 million subscribers and a 33.94 % share. Globacom held 12.39 %, whereas smaller operators collectively accounted for lower than two % of complete connections. Consequently, the highest two operators now management almost 86 % of Nigeria’s cell market, positioning them to seize the majority of data-driven development.
Community utilization patterns present fourth-generation (4G) know-how dominating, accounting for 52.95 % of connections by December 2025. Second-generation (2G) networks nonetheless supported 37.37 % of customers, reflecting affordability constraints and uneven entry to smartphones, significantly in rural areas. Third-generation (3G) utilization declined to five.91 %, whereas fifth-generation (5G) providers, although increasing, remained restricted at 3.77 %.
Regulators say rising funding has helped help rising visitors, whilst quality-of-service challenges persist. Aminu Maida, NCC govt vice chairman, mentioned greater than $1 billion in business funding in 2025 led to the deployment of over 2,850 new websites to broaden protection and capability.
