Nigeria has 185m active subscribers as telcos start poor service compensation

The activation and reactivation of about 1.11 million new Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards have pushed the number of active telephone users from 184.6 million in February to 185.7 million in March.

Latest subscription data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which revealed this, showed that the country’s telephone density also rose marginally from 85.16 per cent to 85.67 per cent.

Within the period, the NCC said MTN remained market leader with 95.7 million subscribers or 51. 6 per cent market reach. Airtel was second with 63.6 million users or 34.3 per cent penetration. Glo came next with 12.2 per cent reach (22.6 million customers).

T2, formerly 9mobile, had 3.47 million subscribers or 1.88 per cent Nigerian coverage.

Further analysis of the data showed that data consumption, which hit four million terabytes at the end of the first quarter, still runs on 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks. As of March 2026, 4G networks accounted for 53.76 per cent of all connections in Nigeria. 2G accounted for 36.74 per cent, 3G, 5.30 per cent.

5G, which is going into about three years and eight months since the October 2022 commercial launch, boasted 4.2 per cent penetration, largely in major cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt.

MEANWHILE, subscribers who have endured months of dropped calls and slow Internet are finally receiving their “pound of flesh.” With the NCC successfully enforcing its new Consumer Compensation Framework, forcing major telcos, including Airtel, MTN, Glo, and 9mobile to issue automatic airtime refunds for service failures, the move marks a radical departure from the past, where regulators merely collected fines from operators while frustrated consumers got nothing.

The Guardian gathered that Airtel Nigeria began rolling out compensation yesterday morning. Subscribers reported receiving SMS notifications stating: “Dear customer, you have been credited with compensation airtime for service quality issues (Nov 2025 – Jan 2026). Dial *310# to check.”

While amounts vary based on usage and location, customers have reported receiving credits ranging from N167 to over N500, with most payouts falling under the N1, 000 mark.

Last week, news filtered in that MTN Nigeria has begun compensating subscribers with airtime for poor network quality experienced in January 2026. Affected users received airtime credits ranging from N20 to over N341.

Speaking at a media briefing in Lagos last month, NCC Executive Vice Chairman Dr Aminu Maida declared that the era of mere warnings was over.

“This is about giving back value to subscribers who have experienced poor service. It is not a refund from the regulator, but a compliance obligation placed on service providers,” Maida stated.

The compensation specifically targets service failures recorded between November 2025 and January 2026. Unlike regular promotional bonuses, this “clean credit” has no expiry date and can be used for data, calls, or SMS.

Subscribers do not need to apply or visit service centres. The NCC has mandated that operators automatically detect network failures at the Local Government Area (LGA) level—a granular monitoring system designed to reflect real user experience rather than general averages.

To qualify, a subscriber must have been in an affected LGA and performed a “billed activity” (call, text, or data use) during the outage period.

To prevent future payouts, the NCC is simultaneously demanding massive infrastructure investments. Maida revealed that telcos have committed to approximately 12,000 network upgrades in 2026, a drastic increase from just over 300 upgrades last year. One major operator has already pledged over $1 billion in fresh capital expenditure.

Industry analysts noted that while the payouts are a win for consumer rights, the ultimate goal is service improvement.(Guardian)