New data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that Globacom, the Nigerian telecoms company that was shut out of emails and work applications after a ransomware attack, has lost significant market share.

The NCC reviewed subscriber data and found that Globacom telco had only 19.1 million active subscribers in September 2024, a significant decline from the 62.1 million subscribers it recorded in March 2024.

The steep decline came after the NCC adjusted subscriber figures to exclude users with no revenue-generating activity or inactive lines for 90 days. As a result, total active subscriptions in Nigeria dropped from 217 million in March 2024 to 154 million in September, according to NCC data. 

The NCC’s revised guidelines classify active subscribers as those engaging in revenue-generating activities, such as SMS, USSD, voice calls, or data usage. Corporate and individual data plan users also fall under this category. Under those 2021 rules, SIMs without a verified National Identification Number (NIN) cannot remain active. Verified subscribers must use their line at least once within a 90-day window to be considered active.

“Even if you don’t make a call but receive one, the operator earns revenue, so your line is counted as active. Any qualifying activity within 90 days of activating a SIM makes it RG (revenue-generating),” said an NCC representative who asked not to be named.

Despite the regulator’s clear directives, all leading telcos appeared to have engaged in spurious counting, “directly violating the Commission’s guidelines for identifying active subscribers, resulting in an inflated report of the operator’s subscriber count and skewing industry statistics,” one NCC insider told TechCabal.

Globacom did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

The large-scale review by the NCC delayed the release of monthly industry statistics.

Following that review, Globacom was the hardest hit, with 40 million inactive subscribers deleted from its overall subscriber count and shrinking its market share. Airtel also saw around 9 million inactive subscribers removed but retained 53 million users.

Recently acquired 9mobile also experienced a substantial decline and now has 3.6 million active users.

Market leader MTN Nigeria saw little impact, with less than 3 million inactive users. The telco maintains 78 million subscribers and has a 50.50% market share, up from 38% in March.