By OKEOGHENE AKUBUIKE

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says a total of 179,642,333 active voice subscribers were recorded in the fourth quarter(Q4) of 2025.

According to NBS, this shows a growth rate of 8.92 per cent compared to the 164,926,599 reported in the fourth quarter of 2024.

This is contained in the NBS Telecoms Data: Active Voice and Internet, Porting and Tariff Information Report for Q4 2025, released in Abuja on Wednesday.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the report showed that active voice subscribers increased by 3.52 per cent from the 173,541,983 recorded in Q3 2025.

Also, the report revealed a total of 148,166,926 active internet subscribers were recorded in Q4 of 2025 compared to the 139,282,108 reported in Q4 2024.

“This represents a 6.38 per cent increase in active internet subscriptions year-on-year, while on a quarter-on-quarter basis, active internet subscribers grew by 5.12 per cent from the 140,949,570 recorded in Q3 of 2025,’’ it stated.

On state-by-state analysis, the report showed that Lagos State had the highest number of active voice subscribers in Q4 2025 with 21,575,253, followed by Kano with 11,261,625 and Ogun with 10,254,588.

“On the other hand, Bayelsa still recorded the least number of 1,187,597 voice subscribers, followed by Ebonyi and Ekiti with 1,678,094 and 1,687,0291, respectively.

Similarly, the report said Lagos State had the highest number of active internet subscribers in Q4 2025 with 18,597,444, followed by Kano with 9,166,953 and Ogun with 8,881,234.

“On the other hand, Bayelsa recorded the least number of internet subscribers with 1,010,052, followed by Ebonyi and Ekiti with 1,350,111 and 1,439,813, respectively.”

It said zonal representation showed that the South-West had the highest active voice subscription with 49,238,117, while the South-East recorded the lowest with 18,332,074.

“Similarly the South-West recorded the highest active internet subscription with 48,347,050, while the South-East recorded the lowest with 17,776,098.”

The NBS report showed that MTN maintained its status quo as the telecommunication service provider with the highest share of subscriptions in Q4 2025. (NAN)

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