Nigeria's telecom market is becoming increasingly concentrated around MTN Nigeria and Airtel, while Glo's subscriber base comes under pressure and T2 Mobile's latest figures remain unchanged because of a reporting problem.
The latest subscriber performance data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows a widening gap between the market's leading operators and some of the smaller players.
T2's Unchanged Figures Raise Questions
T2 Mobile reported a subscriber base of 802,534 in April, May and June 2026. However, the identical figures do not mean the operator's customer base remained completely unchanged.
The NCC said that T2 could not provide updated reports during the period because of technical challenges. The commission said its published statistics were therefore based on the last submission received from the operator, according to a TechCabal report.
The figures also show that 73 subscribers moved to T2 during the period, while 1,897 switched from the network to other operators through number porting. That represents a net loss of 1,824 subscribers through porting alone.
Telecom expert Osita Odafi said it would be unusual for T2's subscriber base to remain the same given the movement of customers between networks. The situation means T2's actual subscriber position during the period remains unclear, making it difficult to accurately assess whether the operator is gaining or losing significant market share.
Glo Struggles to Hold On to Subscribers
Glo's performance presents a clearer picture. The operator increased its subscriber base by 7.8% between April and May but suffered a 7.3% decline in June. The June drop effectively wiped out its previous month's gains, leaving Glo with fewer subscribers than it had in April.
Odafi said customer churn was the most likely explanation, although he cautioned against attributing the decline entirely to poor network performance. Nigeria's challenging operating environment continues to affect telecom infrastructure, with fibre cuts, vandalism and difficulties accessing infrastructure creating disruptions across networks.
The NCC reported more than 5,000 fibre-optic cable cuts across Nigeria in the first six months of 2026, highlighting the scale of the problem. These disruptions can affect network availability and customer experience, potentially pushing subscribers to switch providers even when the underlying problem is damaged infrastructure rather than a lack of operator investment.
MTN and Airtel Continue to Gain Ground
While Glo faces pressure and T2's numbers remain difficult to verify, MTN Nigeria and Airtel continue to strengthen their positions. MTN Nigeria's active mobile internet subscriber base increased by 0.68% between April and June, while Airtel recorded stronger growth of 2.81% during the same period.
Airtel also added 1.47 million subscribers in June alone, pointing to continued momentum for the operator.
The contrasting performances highlight a changing Nigerian telecom landscape. As leading networks continue to attract customers, smaller operators face the challenge of retaining subscribers in a market where network quality, affordability and reliability increasingly influence consumer choices.
For Nigerian consumers, the growing concentration matters. Fewer strong competitors could reduce the pressure on operators to keep prices affordable, improve service quality and respond quickly to customer complaints. The coming months will therefore be crucial as operators compete not only for new customers but also to retain millions of Nigerians already connected to their networks.
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigerians spent an estimated N3.67 trillion on internet data in the first half of 2026, according to calculations based on consumption data released by the NCC and an average benchmark price of N431 per gigabyte. The figure represents a 43% increase from an estimated N2.57 trillion spent during the same period in 2025, meaning Nigerians spent approximately N1.10 trillion more on data year-on-year.
