Nigeria’s active telephone connections topped 200 million in September, a return above a threshold last exceeded before a steep 2024 contraction, according to monthly figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
September’s total was 2,920,403 above the 197,416,694 reported for August. MTN recorded the largest gain, adding 2,091,342 connections, followed by Airtel with 618,660 and Globacom with 217,597. T2 remained at 3,613,801. At the end of September, MTN had 104,648,077 connections, Airtel 68,039,310 and Globacom 23,800,850, according to the NCC table. The commission defines teledensity as active connections per 100 inhabitants; that measure rose to 92.41% from 91.07%. The NCC bases its monthly statistics on the most recent operator returns available when it compiles each report.
The NCC’s all-service series shows 224,713,710 connections in December 2023 and 154,904,827 in September 2024, a fall of 69,808,883. That is a change in reported active connections; the data do not show how many distinct SIMs were removed under identity-verification rules.
In its 2024 year-end report, the NCC linked the broader decline to SIMs removed because their National Identification Number (NIN) records could not be verified and a correction to one operator’s reported subscriber count. The report does not allocate the decline between those factors.
The NCC says mandatory linkage of NINs to Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) began in December 2020. The policy required carriers to block SIMs without the required registration and NIN link. In July 2024, the commission ordered operators to reactivate lines affected by verification problems after subscribers were unable to use them. In August 2024, it set Sept. 14 as the final compliance deadline and said more than 153 million SIMs had been linked, representing 96% compliance.
