MTN Nigeria has further consolidated its position as the dominant force in the country's fibre broadband market, now accounting for more than half of all Fibre to the X (FTTX) subscriptions — the umbrella term for fibre-based broadband delivered to homes and businesses — recorded in the third quarter of 2026.

According to the latest quarterly market data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country's telecoms regulator, MTN held 242,916 FTTX subscriptions as of Q3 2026, up from 176,468 in the second quarter — an increase of 66,448 connections, or roughly 38% growth quarter-on-quarter. That represents 60.47% of the 401,666 subscriptions recorded across the entire market.

The figures extend the telecoms giant's dominance and place it far above traditional internet service providers (ISPs). Its closest competitor, FiberOne Broadband, recorded 60,161 subscriptions, equivalent to approximately 16% of the FTTX market — leaving it far behind a leader now holding roughly four times its subscription count.

The data comes amid rising data consumption by Nigerians, with heavy reliance on mobile networks (4G/5G) creating capacity bottlenecks. For MTN, FibreX has been a major driver of the FTTX trend over the past year and remains the operator's attempt to meet Nigerians' growing demand for high-speed internet.

Expanding its FTTX footprint allows MTN to offload high-bandwidth residential demand and traffic — such as streaming, large file downloads and uploads, 4K video, cloud computing, and intensive remote work — onto dedicated fixed fibre networks, freeing up spectrum on its mobile networks.

MTN and FiberOne Broadband together account for a joint 76.5% market share, but other operators also made notable contributions. The leading providers outside the top two included ipNX Nigeria with 14,933 subscriptions, Broadbased Communication with 10,929, Ngcom with 5,670, Airtel with 5,654, and Luli Fibra Cables Solution with 4,522. The commission publishes these ISP breakdowns quarterly, making its market data reports a reference point for tracking how the fibre rankings evolve.

MTN's Broader Lead in Nigerian Telecoms

Beyond its fibre broadband dominance, MTN remains the country's largest telecoms operator. The latest industry update showed the company extended its lead by adding 2.1 million users in September 2026 to reach 104.65 million users, while Airtel stayed second with 68.04 million subscribers after adding approximately 600,000 new users during the month.

Globacom ranks third with 23.8 million active phone lines, following about 300,000 new subscribers. T2mobile (9mobile) remains fourth with 3.6 million subscribers, the same count it recorded in July 2026.

Meanwhile, Nigerian internet subscribers (excluding internet service providers) rose to 160.9 million in September 2026, from 158.5 million in August 2026. MTN Nigeria led with 86.5 million, followed by Airtel Nigeria with 57.2 million. Globacom added 151,000 new internet users to reach 15.9 million, while T2mobile (9mobile) stood at 810,010, unchanged from August and July 2026. Set against those nationwide totals, the FTTX market's 401,666 subscriptions underline how fixed fibre remains a small slice of Nigeria's internet connectivity, with mobile networks still carrying the bulk of the country's data traffic.