Driven by the pursuit of better service and value, a significant number of Nigerian telephone subscribers voted with their feet in 2024, leading to a major shift in network allegiances. New data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reveals a dramatic increase in mobile number porting activities, highlighting growing consumer dissatisfaction in the telecom sector.
Massive Surge in Network Switching
According to the NCC's 2024 Subscribers/Network Performance Report, porting activities skyrocketed to 110,776 in 2024. This represents a substantial 64.45 per cent increase from the 67,362 porting activities recorded in the previous year. The Mobile Number Portability (MNP) scheme, launched by the Commission in April 2013 to foster competition and improve service quality, appears to be witnessing renewed vigor, though its ultimate goal of universally improved service remains elusive.
Winners and Losers in the Porting War
A detailed breakdown of the 'Port-In' figures, which grew from 33,681 in 2023 to 55,388 in 2024, shows a clear victor. MTN Nigeria emerged as the biggest gainer, attracting 36,412 new users through porting—a massive 58.05 per cent increase from its 2023 numbers.
Airtel secured the second position by welcoming 13,783 new subscribers. Glo followed with 4,469 port-in users, while T2 (9mobile) managed to attract only 724 new customers through the MNP process.
On the flip side, the 'Port-Out' data tells a story of subscriber flight. The number of subscribers leaving their networks also rose to 55,388. T2 (9mobile) was the hardest hit, losing a staggering 44,678 subscribers to its competitors. Airtel saw 4,224 departures, Glo lost 3,813 users, and MTN, despite its gains, witnessed 2,693 subscribers porting out.
A Nation Sending Fewer Text Messages
Beyond network porting, the NCC report also shed light on a notable decline in SMS usage across the country. The total number of national short message services (SMS) sent and received in 2024 was 20.58 billion. This figure marks a significant 10.43 per cent drop from the 22.97 billion SMS recorded in 2023.
The Commission noted that outgoing SMS declined by 9.39 per cent, while incoming messages fell by an even larger 11.41 per cent. MTN dominated the SMS landscape, processing a total of 14.2 billion messages (7.22 billion sent, 6.96 billion received). Airtel handled 4.94 billion SMS, Glo accounted for 1.24 billion, and T2's total SMS traffic was just over 193 million.
T2 Counters Misinformation on Operations
Amidst this competitive landscape, T2 (9mobile) has raised an alarm concerning what it describes as a wave of misinformation about its operational relationships, including those with infrastructure company IHS. The telecoms firm, in a public statement, asserted that these narratives are being pushed by pseudo-analysts lacking credible industry knowledge.
T2 clarified that its network continuity and service delivery are not dependent on IHS tower infrastructure in the manner being suggested online. The company emphasized that critics are ignoring the NCC-approved framework of National Roaming, which allows operators to leverage partner networks to ensure coverage without sole reliance on their own base stations.
