Nigeria’s active mobile telephone subscriptions climbed to 179.64 million at the end of December 2025, underscoring sustained growth in connectivity and a sharp rise in data consumption, figures released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have shown.
The latest industry statistics indicated that active lines increased from 177.43 million in November to 179.64 million in December, pushing national teledensity to 82.87 per cent — a key benchmark that measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 people and reflects the depth of telecom penetration across the country.
The data further showed that MTN Nigeria maintained its market dominance with about 93 million subscribers, accounting for 51.87 per cent of total connections.
Airtel Nigeria followed with 60.8 million users and a 33.9 per cent share, while Globacom recorded 22.2 million subscribers, representing 12.4 per cent of the market. T2 (formerly 9mobile) trailed with 3.22 million customers, translating to 1.80 per cent market share.
In terms of network technology, 4G services remained the backbone of Nigeria’s telecom ecosystem, accounting for 52.95 per cent of total connections.
This was followed by 2G at 37.37 per cent and 3G at 5.91 per cent. Although still in its early stages, 5G adoption continued its gradual rise, accounting for 3.77 per cent of all connections nearly four years after its commercial rollout.
The NCC report also highlighted a dramatic surge in data consumption, with total usage crossing 13.2 million terabytes in 2025 — a reflection of Nigerians’ growing reliance on video streaming, social media, fintech services, e-commerce and remote work platforms.
Broadband penetration equally strengthened alongside rising data demand. Internet subscriptions rose to 112.67 million in December, pushing broadband penetration to 51.97 per cent, up from 50.58 per cent recorded in November.
Industry analysts said the figures reaffirm the telecom sector’s critical role in driving Nigeria’s digital economy, boosting financial inclusion, supporting innovation and expanding access to education, healthcare and government services.
The NCC has repeatedly stressed that improved infrastructure rollout, quality-of-service enforcement and spectrum management remain central to sustaining the sector’s growth and ensuring equitable access, particularly in underserved rural communities.
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