Despite a notable increase in Nigeria’s telecommunication reach in the first quarter of 2025, millions of MTN subscribers were left frustrated on Tuesday following hours of internet blackout that disrupted daily activities across the country.
According to fresh data released by industry regulators, Nigeria’s active telephone lines grew by 3.39 million between January and March 2025, bringing the total number of users to 172.7 million. This figure now places the nation’s teledensity at 79.67 percent.
The breakdown of the data shows 4G remains the most widely used network in Nigeria, with 48.82 percent penetration. It is followed by the still-persistent 2G technology at 40 percent, while 3G holds 8.40 percent usage.
Meanwhile, adoption of the much-anticipated 5G technology—provided by MTN, Airtel, and Mafab—saw only a modest increase, rising from 2.54 percent to 2.70 percent, representing about 4.66 million users.
Paradoxically, while broadband penetration improved from 45.61 percent to 47.73 percent, the number of internet users slightly dipped—dropping from 142.16 million in January to 142.05 million by March. However, broadband user count now stands at a record 103.5 million.
In the race for market dominance, MTN remains the front-runner, boasting 90 million subscribers and controlling 52.4 percent of the market. Airtel follows with 58.3 million users (33.8 percent), while Globacom and 9mobile lag behind with 20.7 million and 2.96 million users respectively.
Service Glitch Sparks Outrage
But while the numbers point to steady growth, users of Nigeria’s largest mobile operator—MTN—woke up to a frustrating surprise on Tuesday as the network went offline without prior notice.
From Lagos to Kano, users flooded social media platforms with complaints about the inability to access websites, mobile apps, and other services. Notably, WhatsApp was the only social platform that remained accessible for most subscribers.
Ayinde Olakunle, a Festac-based user, described the experience as “frustrating and unprofessional.”
“I couldn’t load a single site as early as 6am. Everything just went blank. I had to switch to another SIM to carry on with work,” he said.
On X (formerly Twitter), reactions were swift and scathing.
@rukky_nate wrote: “The only reason MTN will turn off internet services across Nigeria for hours is because there’ll be no consequences from the government. Nigeria is a failed state, and MTN is a subset of that failure.”
@mukhtar_usman added: “I can’t believe a network will just shut down internet service and get away with it. I thought my phone had spoilt.”
Another user, @ossynoya, hinted at something more sinister, linking the outage to ongoing national protests: “Not sure if it’s related to the planned protest, but how do you shut down the network since 3am? There’s a complete lack of respect for Nigerians.”
MTN has since issued an apology via SMS and email to its subscribers.
“Y’ello, we sincerely apologise for the recent disruption to our services caused by a network connectivity failure affecting some of our customers,” the message read.
“The issue has now been fully resolved. Still experiencing difficulty? Please restart your device and refresh your connection.”
