MTN and Airtel pull ahead as Glo and T2 stumble in Nigeria's telecom market

Nigeria's telecom market is concentrating around MTN Nigeria and Airtel, while Glo loses ground and T2 Mobile's subscriber numbers remain frozen due to reporting problems. Latest Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) data shows the gap widening between leading operators and smaller players.

Why T2 Mobile's numbers did not move

T2 Mobile reported a subscriber base of 802,534 in April, May and June 2026. The identical figures do not mean the operator's customer base stayed unchanged. The NCC said T2 could not provide updated reports during the period because of technical challenges, so published statistics were based on the last submission received from the operator.

Porting data shows 73 subscribers moved to T2 during the period, while 1,897 switched to other networks, a net loss of 1,824 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 actual position remains unclear, making it hard to assess whether T2 is gaining or losing market share.

Glo's gains erased by June decline

Glo increased its subscriber base by 7.8% between April and May, then suffered a 7.3% decline in June. That drop wiped out the previous month's gains and left Glo with fewer subscribers than it had in April. Odafi said customer churn was the most likely explanation, though he cautioned against blaming poor network performance entirely.

Nigeria's operating environment continues to disrupt telecom infrastructure. Fibre cuts, vandalism and poor infrastructure access are affecting networks. The NCC reported more than 5,000 fibre-optic cable cuts across Nigeria in the first six months of 2026. These cuts can push subscribers to switch providers even when the issue is damaged infrastructure, not a lack of operator investment.

MTN and Airtel keep growing

MTN Nigeria's active mobile internet subscriber base rose by 0.68% between April and June, while Airtel grew by 2.81% over the same period. Airtel added 1.47 million subscribers in June alone. The contrasting performances highlight a changing telecom landscape, with network quality, affordability and reliability shaping consumer choices.

For Nigerian consumers, concentration matters. Fewer strong competitors could weaken pressure on operators to keep prices affordable, improve service quality and respond to complaints. The coming months will be crucial as operators compete for new customers and try to retain millions of existing connections.

Separately, Nigerians spent an estimated N3.67 trillion on internet data in the first half of 2026, based on NCC consumption data and an average benchmark of N431 per gigabyte. That was a 43% jump from an estimated N2.57 trillion in the same period in 2025.