Nigeria had 197.4 million phone subscriptions and 158.5 million internet subscriptions in August 2026, and Nigerians used 1.76 million terabytes of mobile data that month, the most ever recorded. This tracker turns the Nigerian Communications Commission's monthly industry statistics into plain tables you can scan in a minute. We update it every month when the NCC publishes new figures.
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Data use has grown 53% in eleven months. The average internet subscription now uses about 11.1GB a month, up from 8.1GB in September 2025.
Latest data: August 2026. Next update: when the NCC publishes September 2026 figures.
Snapshot: Aug 2026
| Measure | Aug 2026 | Change on Jul 2026 | Change since Sep 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone subscriptions | 197.42m | +1.2% | +13.8% |
| Internet subscriptions | 158.52m | +0.5% | +12.5% |
| Broadband subscriptions | 126.22m | +1.4% | +18.0% |
| Data used (terabytes) | 1,756,405 | +5.7% | +53.1% |
| Teledensity | 91.07% | 1.07 points | 11.02 points |
| Broadband penetration | 58.22% | 0.82 points | 8.88 points |
Teledensity is the number of phone subscriptions per 100 people. It counts SIM cards, not people, so many Nigerians with two or three lines push it up. Broadband penetration is the share of the population with a broadband connection; Nigeria's national plan set a 70% target for the end of 2025, and the country is still about 12 points short.
Mobile subscriptions by network
| Network | Aug 2026 | Share | Change on Jul 2026 | Added since Sep 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTN | 102.56m | 52.01% | +1,697,157 | +12,220,086 |
| Airtel | 67.42m | 34.19% | +660,353 | +8,950,170 |
| Glo | 23.58m | 11.96% | -45,713 | +2,191,467 |
| T2 | 3.61m | 1.83% | +0 | +499,579 |
| Total | 197.17m | 100% | +2,311,797 | +23,861,302 |
MTN added 12.2 million lines in eleven months, more than Airtel, Glo and T2 put together. Glo was the only network to lose lines in August. T2, the former 9mobile, reported the same total as in July.
One thing confuses many readers: MTN's own results report 94.7 million subscribers at the end of September, while the NCC lists 102.6 million in August. The NCC counts all active lines reported to it, while MTN reports subscribers under its own definition, so the two figures are not meant to match. Use the NCC figure to compare networks and MTN's figure to follow MTN's results.
Mobile internet subscriptions by network
| Network | Aug 2026 | Change on Jul 2026 | Change since Sep 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| MTN | 84.56m | +0.5% | +9.5% |
| Airtel | 56.94m | +0.3% | +16.9% |
| Glo | 15.76m | +1.0% | +15.2% |
| T2 | 0.81m | +0.0% | +8.9% |
Airtel is growing its internet base fastest, up almost 17% since September 2025. MTN still has the largest base by far, with 84.6 million internet subscriptions against Airtel's 56.9 million.
Data used each month
| Month | Data used (terabytes) | Change on previous month |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | 1,756,405 | +5.7% |
| Jul 2026 | 1,662,021 | +8.5% |
| Jun 2026 | 1,532,173 | +1.9% |
| May 2026 | 1,504,067 | +6.3% |
| Apr 2026 | 1,414,849 | -0.6% |
| Mar 2026 | 1,422,765 | +12.9% |
| Feb 2026 | 1,260,060 | -9.1% |
| Jan 2026 | 1,385,536 | -0.1% |
| Dec 2025 | 1,386,238 | +12.1% |
| Nov 2025 | 1,236,544 | +0.1% |
| Oct 2025 | 1,235,459 | +7.7% |
| Sep 2025 | 1,147,133 | n/a |
Data use rises most months, with dips in short months such as February. Spread across all internet subscriptions, August's total works out to about 11.1GB per subscription, up from 8.1GB in September 2025. Video, social media and the steady move to 4G are the main drivers, although the NCC does not publish a breakdown by app.
2G, 3G, 4G and 5G share of mobile subscriptions
| Technology | Aug 2026 | Feb 2026 | Sep 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2G | 36.05% | 36.87% | 38.44% |
| 3G | 4.27% | 5.49% | 6.64% |
| 4G | 54.77% | 53.59% | 51.56% |
| 5G | 4.92% | 4.06% | 3.37% |
4G now carries more than half of all mobile subscriptions, and 5G has climbed from 3.37% to 4.92% in eleven months. The 2G share is falling slowly, but more than a third of lines still sit on 2G, mostly basic phones used for calls, SMS and USSD. That is why USSD codes still matter so much in Nigeria.
Number porting in Aug 2026
| Network | Ported in | Ported out | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| MTN | 508 | 266 | +242 |
| Airtel | 389 | 236 | +153 |
| Glo | 198 | 201 | -3 |
| T2 | 5 | 408 | -403 |
Porting means keeping your number while moving to another network. The numbers are small, around 1,100 a month, but the direction is clear. Over the past twelve months MTN gained about 7,000 more ported numbers than it lost and Airtel about 1,800, while T2 lost about 8,300 and Glo about 660.
Fixed broadband is small but growing fast
Fixed internet subscriptions, mostly home fibre and wireless broadband, rose from 45,670 in September 2025 to 227,910 in August 2026. Almost all of that is MTN's fixed service, which grew from 45,495 to 222,709 lines. Industry data also shows fibre-to-the-x subscribers rising from 241,750 in the first quarter of 2026 to 319,735 in the second. Against 158 million mobile internet subscriptions, home broadband is still tiny, but it is the fastest growing line in the NCC data.
What the numbers mean for you
- Networks are growing, complaints too. More lines and more data mean more strain on masts and fibre. That helps explain why lawmakers have summoned the chief executives of MTN, Airtel and Glo over poor service this year.
- Your data bill is going up because you use more. Average use per subscription has risen by about 3GB a month in less than a year.
- Porting is an option. If your network is poor where you live, you can keep your number and move to another network. Visit the new network's office with a valid ID and ask to port your line.
- 5G is still for a few. Fewer than one line in twenty is on 5G, so check coverage before paying extra for a 5G phone.
How we build this tracker
Every figure comes from the NCC's industry statistics page, which the commission updates monthly. We calculate the changes and per-subscription averages ourselves from those figures. Subscription counts are lines, not people. When the NCC revises a past month, we update the table to match.
Nigeria is adding about 2 million lines and using about 5% more data every month. This page will show you where that growth goes, network by network, every month.
