T2 faults spread of disinformation on operations, IHS

Telephone subscribers’ quest for better telephony experiences and value for money triggered 110,776 porting activities in 2024. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which disclosed the figures, porting activities rose from 67,362 in 2023 to 110,776 in 2024, indicating a percentage increase of 64.45 per cent. The Commission revealed this in the 2024 Subscribers/Network Performance Report.

Recall that NCC launched mobile number portability (MNP) in April 2013 to enhance competition and improve the quality of service among network operators, but the drive behind the initiative has not materialised to date, as no network can be said to have actually improved and satisfied its customers. Besides, the multi-SIM nature of Nigeria’s telecom sector also impacted the process, albeit negatively

The 79-page document states that Port-In activities increased from 33,681 in 2023 to 55,388 in 2024. The report showed that more Nigerians ported into MTN, with the network receiving 36,412, which was a 58.05 per cent increase from 2023 data. Airtel came second with 13,783 new users, Glo welcomed 4,469 and T2 saw 724 new users.

In terms of Port-Out activities, the number of activities increased from 33,681 in 2023 to 55,388 a year later, indicating a rise of 64.45 per cent year-on-year performance analysis.

T2 was the most hit, losing 44,678 subscribers to competitors. 4,224 users left Airtel; Glo lost 3,813, while 2,693 subscribers were not comfortable with the MTN network.

Further analysis of the document showed that the number of national short message service (SMS) both sent and received at the end of 2024 was 20,577,252,681. This, however, was a drop of 10.43 per cent from 2023, which stood at 22,973,122,651 SMS.

NCC said SMS sent out in 2024 declined by 9.39 per cent compared to 2023, while incoming SMS in 2024 also decreased by 11.41 per cent compared to that of 2023.

The Commission, in the report, also pointed out that in 2024, MTN recorded the highest count of SMS received and sent, which stood at 6.96 billion and 7.22 billion, respectively, making a total of 14.2 billion messages.

Subscribers spent 2.53 billion on Airtel. The network received 2.41 billion, which totalled 4.94 billion. Users sent 519,687,402 SMS on Glo and the network received 723,541,017, which amounted to 1.24 billion.

For EMTS trading as T2 (9mobile), the network sent 109,910,509 SMS, received 83,370,007, which totalled 193,280,516.00. Users sent 389,441 text messages on SMILE and 1,326,394, which equalled 1,715,835.00 for 2024.

MEANWHILE, T2 has observed with concern the recent wave of misinformation circulating online regarding its operational relationships, including those involving IHS. These narratives, T2 claimed, were driven primarily by pseudo-analysts operating without any credible industry knowledge, grossly misrepresent how telecommunications networks function and deliberately distort the facts for attention and engagement.

According to the company, contrary to the claims being circulated, T2’s network continuity and service delivery are not dependent on IHS tower infrastructure in the manner suggested.

In a statement yesterday, the telecom firm claimed that the commentators ignored or were entirely unaware of the fundamental mechanics of National Roaming, a framework approved by the NCC, under which operators seamlessly leverage partner networks to ensure full coverage without reliance on their own base stations.