Telecom subscriptions hit 195.1m in July

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…Adds 2.88m subscriptions in one month

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By Juliet Umeh

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Nigeria’s active telecommunications subscriptions rose by 2.88 million in July 2026 to 195.11 million, up from 192.23 million recorded in June, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC.

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The increase represents a monthly growth of about 1.5 per cent, while the country’s teledensity rose from 88.67 per cent in June to 90 per cent in July.

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MTN remained the largest mobile network operator with 100.86 million subscriptions, followed by Airtel with 66.76 million.

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Globacom recorded 23.63 million subscriptions, while T2 had 3.61 million.

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Despite the continued expansion of newer network technologies, 2G accounted for 36.54 per cent of mobile subscriptions in July.

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4G had the largest share at 54.31 per cent, while 3G accounted for 4.42 per cent and 5G, 4.74 per cent.

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Broadband subscriptions also increased from 123.11 million in June to 124.42 million in July, pushing broadband penetration from 56.79 per cent to 57.40 per cent.

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The growth in connectivity was accompanied by higher internet data consumption, with Nigerians using 1.66 million terabytes of data in July, compared with 1.53 million terabytes in June, representing an increase of about 8.5 per cent.

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Data consumption stood at 1.50 million terabytes in May.

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The NCC also recorded 157.27 million mobile internet subscriptions, 204,082 fixed internet subscriptions and 230,613 Voice over Internet Protocol subscriptions in July.

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A total of 1,251 mobile numbers were ported during the month.

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Meanwhile, fibre-to-the-X subscriptions rose from 241,750 in the first quarter of 2026 to 319,735 in the second quarter, representing an increase of 77,985.

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The fibre-to-the-X category covers fibre connections to homes, offices and other locations.

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The telecommunications sector contributed 9.72 per cent to Nigeria’s gross domestic product in the second quarter of 2026.

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