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Joy Agwunobi
Nigeria’s mobile internet ecosystem is evolving, driven by rising smartphone penetration, heavier reliance on digital services, and the growing centrality of mobile broadband to everyday economic activity. From streaming and remote work to online commerce and financial services, the quality of mobile connectivity has become a critical differentiator for both consumers and businesses.
Fresh insights from the 2025 nPerf Barometer of mobile internet connections provide a detailed snapshot of how the country’s networks performed over the past year, offering a data-driven view into speed, reliability and user experience across Nigeria’s major mobile operators.
The report analysed millions of quality-controlled tests conducted between January 1 and December 31, 2025, highlighting a sector marked by intense competition at the top and growing gaps elsewhere.
According to the independent French measurement company, MTN Nigeria consolidated its position as the country’s leading mobile internet provider in 2025, emerging clearly ahead of its peers across all major performance indicators. Airtel followed as a strong second, while Glo ranked third, each operator displaying distinct strengths that shape user experience in different ways.
Notably, the findings point to a market increasingly shaped by three dominant operators, as usage patterns captured in the performance data are concentrated almost entirely around MTN, Airtel and Glo. Together, the trio accounted for all tests analysed during the period, with MTN alone responsible for 58 percent of total measurements, followed by Airtel at 24 percent and Glo at 18 percent.
By contrast, the absence of T2, formerly known as 9mobile, from the dataset underscores how subscriber activity and data consumption continue to shift towards networks viewed as more dependable for data-intensive use.
MTN strengthens its lead on speed, consistency and user experience
MTN topped the nPerf rankings with a total score of 37,106 nPoints, establishing a commanding lead across download speed, upload speed, browsing performance, video streaming and latency.
With an average download speed of 18.65 Mbps, the operator delivered the fastest mobile internet experience in Nigeria during the period, supporting smoother HD streaming, faster app downloads and improved cloud-based services.
Upload speeds also placed MTN firmly ahead, recording 8.70 Mbps, a metric increasingly important as Nigerians engage more in video calls, content creation and real-time collaboration. Beyond raw speed, MTN led in browsing performance, achieving a score of 35.78 percent, while also dominating video streaming with 67.02 percent, indicating fewer interruptions and higher-quality playback.
The report further showed that MTN’s advantage extended into network consistency. Even during peak usage periods between 6 pm and 11 pm, the network maintained more consistent performance than its competitors, an important consideration in a market where congestion remains a common challenge.
MTN also ranked first across all 4G performance indicators, underlining the continued importance of LTE networks in Nigeria, where 4G still carries the bulk of mobile data traffic despite the gradual rollout of 5G services.
Airtel holds ground with competitive speeds and strong streaming performance
Airtel Nigeria followed in second place with a total score of 25,614 nPoints, delivering competitive results across several categories. The operator ranked second in average download speed at 10.57 Mbps and secured the same position in upload speed with 4.74 Mbps, levels that comfortably support everyday mobile use, including video calls and media sharing.
Airtel also demonstrated strong capabilities in video streaming, achieving a score of 62.50 percent to place second behind MTN. This indicates relatively stable content delivery for users consuming on-demand and live video services. While Airtel did not match MTN’s overall performance, the results underline its role as a strong alternative, particularly for users prioritising consistent speeds and streaming quality.
Glo leans on latency and browsing efficiency
Globacom placed third with 20,475 nPoints, but the report highlights areas where the operator stands out. Glo recorded the best latency performance in the market at 121.81 milliseconds, a key metric for real-time applications such as online gaming, voice calls and interactive services. Lower latency can translate into quicker response times and smoother interactions, even when download speeds are more modest.
In addition, Glo ranked second in browsing performance with a score of 29.86 percent, suggesting efficient web navigation and relatively fast page loading for everyday use. While its overall score trailed MTN and Airtel, the results point to a more balanced network profile that may appeal to users focused on responsiveness rather than peak speeds.
What the data says about competition and market direction
According to nPerf, the Nigerian mobile internet market remains highly competitive, with operators offering differentiated service profiles rather than uniform performance. “The Nigerian mobile sector demonstrates strong competition with three operators delivering differentiated service profiles. Users benefit from increasingly capable networks, particularly for streaming and data-intensive applications,” the report noted.
The findings come at a time of major technology transitions in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector. While 4G remains dominant nationwide, 5G adoption is slowly expanding, particularly in urban centres such as Lagos and Abuja. However, broader rollout continues to be constrained by device affordability and infrastructure investment requirements.
Mobile broadband continues to account for the overwhelming majority of active internet connections in Nigeria, reinforcing the sector’s central role in digital inclusion, economic participation and service delivery.
As Nigerians spend more time working remotely, streaming content and accessing digital platforms via mobile devices, performance indicators such as speed, latency and network consistency are no longer just technical benchmarks. They are increasingly shaping consumer choice, platform reliability and investor confidence across the telecommunications value chain.
The concentration of mobile internet usage around a small number of operators, as reflected in the nPerf data, also raises broader questions about competition dynamics within the sector. While users appear to be gravitating towards networks perceived as more reliable for data-intensive activities, the widening performance gaps underscore the uneven pace of network investment and service delivery across the market.
It is within this context that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry’s regulatory body, has moved to deepen its assessment of competition in the telecommunications sector. The Commission has engaged global consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to carry out the first comprehensive, independent study of competition in Nigeria’s telecoms industry in more than a decade.
Speaking at a recent Stakeholders’ Forum on the Study on the Level of Competition in the Nigerian Telecom Industry, Omotayo Mohammed, head of Competition and Tariff at the NCC, said the structure of the market has changed significantly over the years. According to her, revenue models have evolved, investment patterns have shifted and new forms of market interaction have emerged alongside rapid technological change.
“We are witnessing evolving consumer expectations and usage patterns, rising investment costs and heightened competitive pressures. At the same time, concerns around barriers to entry, market concentration, the sustainability of smaller players and quality of service continue to warrant careful consideration,” Mohammed said.
She added that these developments underscore the need for regulators to continuously validate competition policy assumptions against current market evidence, particularly as mobile broadband becomes ever more central to Nigeria’s digital participation and economic activity.
