MTN surges ahead of ISPs, captures 55% of fibre broadband market

MTN Nigeria has strengthened its dominance in Nigeria’s fibre broadband market, accounting for more than half of all Fibre to the X (FTTX) subscriptions recorded in the second quarter of 2026.

According to the latest fibre market data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), MTN had 176,468 FTTX subscriptions as of Q2 2026, representing 55.2 per cent of the 319,735 subscriptions recorded nationwide.

The figure places MTN significantly ahead of other operators, with FiberOne Broadband ranking a distant second with 56,486 subscriptions, representing approximately 17.7 per cent of the market.

ipNX Nigeria occupied the third position with 14,698 subscriptions, followed by Broad Based Communication with 10,761 and Ngcom with 5,958.

MTN’s subscriber base was more than three times that of FiberOne and nearly 12 times larger than ipNX’s, underscoring the telecom giant’s commanding position in the country’s fibre broadband segment.

Other operators recorded considerably smaller subscriber numbers. Airtel had 4,417 FTTX subscriptions, narrowly ahead of Luli Fibra Cables Solution with 4,412, while Layer3 recorded 3,613 subscriptions and Choice2mobile Technology had 3,492.

Legend Internet Plc recorded 3,101 subscriptions, followed by Amdeetel Nigeria with 2,824 and Swift Networks with 2,509.

The NCC figures also point to a highly concentrated market, with MTN and FiberOne alone accounting for roughly 73 per cent of all FTTX subscriptions in the country.

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Outside the leading operators, the market remains fragmented among dozens of smaller providers. Kkon Technologies recorded 2,289 subscriptions, Ciudad Infrastructure had 2,144, while MangoNet Integrated Technologies posted 1,878.

Dotmac Technologies and Wow Networks recorded 1,690 and 1,641 subscriptions respectively, while Main One Cable Company Nigeria had 1,503.

Spectranet, one of Nigeria’s largest internet service providers, recorded 1,344 fibre subscriptions.

The NCC data covers 100 operators, although most recorded relatively modest subscriber numbers compared with MTN and the other leading providers.

MTN has continued to invest in expanding its fibre broadband footprint. The company last year rebranded its MTN Fibre Broadband service as FibreX, saying the move reflected its commitment to supporting Nigeria’s digital transformation.

The company said the rebranding was also aligned with the objectives of the National Broadband Plan 2020–2025, which targeted 70 per cent broadband penetration, with minimum broadband speeds of 25 Mbps in urban areas and 10 Mbps in rural communities.

MTN had also said FibreX would support efforts to increase Nigeria’s national fibre capacity from about 35,000 kilometres to 125,000 kilometres, involving the deployment of an additional 90,000 kilometres of fibre.

Despite the rapid expansion of fibre infrastructure, however, access remains heavily concentrated in Nigeria’s major urban centres.

The NCC’s infrastructure data shows that operators have deployed 101,148.36 kilometres of fibre optic cable across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

Lagos and the FCT account for 18,559.83 kilometres, representing about 18.35 per cent of the country’s total deployed fibre network.