9mobile Rebounds with First Subscriber Gain of 2025 After MTN Deal

Telecom operator 9mobile, recently rebranded as T2, has reported its first monthly subscriber growth of 2025, adding 290,601 new users in July. The gain follows its infrastructure-sharing agreement with MTN Nigeria.

This marks a turnaround for the operator, which has struggled with years of declining customer numbers. In July, 9mobile was the only one of Nigeria’s four major operators to post growth, while MTN, Airtel, and Globacom all saw subscriber losses.

Despite this, the total number of active mobile subscriptions in Nigeria fell to 169.1 million in July, down from 171.5 million in June. Airtel recorded the steepest drop, losing 2.4 million subscribers to settle at 56.5 million. MTN shed 106,345 to close at 89.1 million, while Globacom lost 143,701, bringing its base to 20.7 million.

Market share data showed MTN leading with 52.7%, followed by Airtel at 33.42%, Globacom at 12.26%, and 9mobile trailing at 1.61% despite its July gains.

Nigeria’s teledensity, calculated on a population estimate of 216 million, also fell to 78.11% in July from 79.22% in June, reflecting the overall industry contraction.