Glo’s 3.2 million subscriber loss opens door for 9mobile comeback

Globacom misplaced over 3.2 million web subscribers between December 2024 and Could 2025, the steepest decline amongst Nigeria’s 4 main cellular operators throughout that interval.

New knowledge from the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) point out that Glo’s web subscriber base decreased from 17.1 million to 13.9 million, leading to a median lack of greater than 21,000 customers per day. This sharp decline pulls its subscriber base again to ranges final seen in November 2013. 

Whereas the losses sign a serious blow to Glo’s market place, it presents a uncommon alternative for 9mobile, Nigeria’s smallest cellular community operator by person base, to realize floor after years of stagnation. With simply 1.4 million subscribers—lower than 1.5% of the web market—9mobile might start to shut the almost 10 million person hole by improved service and strategic advertising. A internet achieve of 250,000–300,000 customers month-to-month might considerably alter its market standing inside three years.

On the coronary heart of this optimism is 9mobile’s landmark nationwide roaming settlement with MTN Nigeria, signed in July 2025. The three-year deal grants 9mobile’s prospects entry to MTN’s 2G–4G community infrastructure, extending the corporate’s attain into underserved areas and bettering knowledge and voice reliability.

In the meantime, Glo’s subscriber losses are rooted in each regulatory and structural challenges. The telco’s sharp subscriber loss started following the NCC’s enforcement of the SIM-NIN linkage coverage, which aimed to sanitise Nigeria’s cellular subscriber database. 

In March 2024, Glo reported 62.1 million lively voice subscribers. However by mid-September, that determine had dropped to only 19.1 million—a lack of roughly 43 million customers, the most important decline amongst all operators. A lot of this discount was attributable to Glo’s inflated subscriber numbers, which included inactive or unregistered SIMs that failed to satisfy the brand new compliance requirements.

Globacom didn’t reply to requests for feedback. 

However regulation tells solely a part of the story. Globacom has constantly underinvested in its community infrastructure in comparison with its friends, laying simply 13,800 km of fibre, far behind MTN Nigeria’s 31,972 km and Airtel Nigeria’s 16,112 km. This shortfall has left Glo particularly weak to sector-wide challenges resembling fibre cuts, vandalism, and unreliable energy provide. 

In contrast to its rivals, which outsource their tower infrastructure to specialised companies with the capability for faster upkeep and upgrades, Glo operates its 8,550 telecom towers in-house. This choice, mixed with getting old infrastructure and slower response instances, has severely restricted its means to ship constant high quality and protection.

Glo customers are feeling the affect. Sullivan Emerald, a software program developer based mostly in Owerri, instructed TechCabal that Glo’s service within the Imo State capital is unreliable. “Only some areas just like the Imo State Authorities Home and the World Financial institution space get a usable sign,” he stated. Knowledge from Uptime reveals that between January and Could 2025 alone, Globacom skilled 102 main community outages nationwide.

The operator’s governance construction has additionally come beneath scrutiny. The corporate stays tightly managed by its founder, Mike Adenuga, with little separation between possession and administration. This centralised construction has hindered innovation and made it troublesome to draw top-tier management. In Could 2025, newly appointed CEO Ahmad Farroukh resigned only one month into the job, reportedly attributable to disagreements over administration autonomy. Globacom’s credibility has additionally taken successful from regulatory run-ins. Along with being penalised for failing to register over 40 million subscribers with legitimate Nationwide Identification Numbers (NINs), the corporate has confronted disconnection threats over unpaid interconnection charges owed to MTN and Airtel.

In distinction, 9mobile is starting to chart a turnaround. Its roaming settlement with MTN, endorsed by the NCC as a mannequin for infrastructure sharing and digital inclusion, permits it to increase protection with out heavy capital outlays. The transfer is a key pillar in 9mobile’s $3 billion restoration plan.

9mobile didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Nonetheless, not everyone seems to be satisfied that 9mobile’s rise is assured. Wole Adetuyi, CEO of Swift Phone Community (STN), a set landline phone firm, cautioned that 9mobile’s success will rely upon sustained funding and clear governance. 

“9mobile has a correctly constituted board,” he famous, “however the query is whether or not they have—or are prepared to present—the financing wanted to scale.”

Adetuyi provides that Glo might nonetheless get better with the fitting reforms. The operator might nonetheless regain its footing if it addresses its company governance points, appoints an impartial board and CEO, and permits new buyers to come back in with actual decision-making energy. Additionally, 9mobile is just not very clear about the way it intends to boost the $3 billion capital and what it might do with it ought to buyers agree to supply capital. Equally vital is that following the cope with MTN, 9mobile would wish to share a bulk of its income with MTN Nigeria for the subsequent three years. Therefore, elevating $3 billion from its income is unlikely except it shortly diversifies into different companies, beginning with its fintech vertical, 9PSB. 

Telecom consultants like Diseye Isoun, CEO of Content material Oasis, an web service supplier, and Ladi Okuneye, CEO of UniCloud Africa, a cloud computing expertise supplier, stated one of the best strategy to speedy restoration for 9mobile is specializing in constructing out a cellular digital community operator (MVNO) mannequin. 

“They basically want to have a look at themselves as an MVNO,” Okuneye stated. “It’s best they leverage another person’s infrastructure.” 

For now, the race between Globacom and 9mobile is much less about dominance and extra about survival. However with the fitting strikes, 9mobile could lastly be capable to break from the underside of the pack.

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