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9mobile fights for survival over operational, financial issues

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…as new owners fail to halt drift, target $3bn investment

Fledgling telecommunications giant, 9mobile Nigeria, is presently fighting to stay afloat amid crippling operational and financial challenges, Business Hallmark can report.

Once a major player in the nation’s telecoms sector with over 22.5 million subscribers, 9mobile company has lost  ground to competitors like MTN Nigeria, Globacom, and Airtel Nigeria, which are daily snapping up its customers.

9mobile, formerly owned by United Arab Emirates (UAE) based company, Mubadala, entered the Nigerian telecom market in 2008 as Etisalat to compete for the then 64 million subscriber population shared by MTN, Globacom and Airtel.

With its “0809ja for Life” publicity blitz driven by specially selected musicians with a strong connection to the youthful population, 9mobile quickly resonated with the Nigerian ‘GSM crazy’ nation, especially the younger generation.

By the middle of 2016, 9mobile had reached the peak of its glory, controlling a 14% share of the nation’s GSM market.

Unfortunately, the firm could not sustain the growth trend. By the end of October 2024, the company’s fortune has nose-dived, with its share of the market dropping to a meagre two percent.

According to the most recent data on the distribution of active lines in the country by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the market share of 9Mobile dropped to 3.4m subscribers, about 2.15 per cent of the market as of October 2024 from a high of 22.5 million subscribers (14% market share) in August 2016.

Unlike 9mobile, other competitors fared much better in the period under review.

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For instance, while MTN Nigeria has the largest subscriber base of 80,376,120, representing  51.09 percent of the market, Airtel came second with  54,446,118 subscribers, representing 34.61 percent.

Third on the list is Globacom Nigeria with 19,108,272 subscribers, representing  12.15 percent market share.

Further analysis of the report shows that while MTN Nigeria gained about 2.3 million or 2.9 percent of customers on a month-on-month basis in the period under review, Airtel gained 697,000 users, 9Mobile and Globacom lost 245,000 and  45,000 subscribers respectively.

Also in the month of September 2024, 9mobile lost 7,127 subscribers, who moved to other networks. This represents 90% of the movement (porting) across networks, with the other three operators, Globacom, Airtel and MTN accounting for the remaining 10% of outgoing customers.

While it lost over 7,000 customers in September 2024, 9mobile gained only 30 porting subscribers, who moved to the network from others.

On the other hand, MTN Nigeria emerged as the biggest gainer, mopping up  4,987 customers (63 percent) of the total 7,886 subscribers that ported in the month, followed by Airtel, which received 2,205 customers from other networks and Globacom which gained only 664 customers from its competitors.

Telecoms experts, meanwhile, expect 9mobile’s subscriber base to further shrink by the time industry regulator, NCC, updates its data on the distribution of active lines among operators as the management of 9mobile continues to battle operational challenges that have refused to ebb.

BH findings revealed that customers of the embattled telecoms company have been facing challenges operating their lines since December 14, 2024, when the network suffered a downtime.

Millions of Nigerians using 9mobile had complained bitterly of their inability to make or receive calls, send and receive text messages, as well as transact financial transactions on their inactive lines.

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Responding to customers’ outcry on December 18, 9mobile blamed the service outages that disrupted voice, data, and internet services across the country on a fire outbreak and vandalism that ravaged its assets.

According to the operator, the shutdown was caused by a fire at its Main Data Centre in Lagos, which caused significant disruptions, particularly in Lagos and the South-western part of the country.

It added that the outage was compounded by a series of fiber interruptions by vandals.

“We sincerely apologize for the recent service outages experienced by our valued customers, which have affected our ability to provide voice, data, and internet services.

“We understand the frustration these disruptions have caused and deeply regret the inconvenience.

“We had a fibre cut on the backbone links in Lagos, leading to a total data outage across the country.

“This was closely followed by two vandalism incidents in Lagos and Abuja, causing further service outages.

“Services have now been fully restored in the North and South-South regions, and we are working diligently to restore services in the remaining areas as soon as possible”, the management of 9mobile had assured.

However, despite the assurance from 9mobile, millions of its subscribers are still without service. For instance, this reporter, who owns a 9mobile SIM as his principal line, has lost the ability to use the line since December 15, 2024.

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Attempts to get 9mobile officials to fix the problem have failed to yield any result. Fed up with the unending network failure, this writer visited the offices of Globacom and MTN in Ikeja, Lagos last week to transfer his line to the networks.

The efforts, however, failed as customer agents at the experience centres of the two network providers visited said they could not proceed with the transfer (porting) with 9mobile network still down.

Trouble for the once flying network provider began in 2016 when it defaulted on a $1.2 billion loan to modernize its network and refinance a $650 million facility provided by a consortium of 13 local banks.

Experts, who spoke to BH on the matter, blamed 9mobile’s inability to attain financial stability to many factors, including the fall in the value of the naira, which pushed up the cost of servicing its foreign-denominated debt; limited spectrum holdings, including the 1800 MHz and 900 MHz bands for 2G and 4G LTE, and the 2100 MHz band for 3G services, as well as an inadequate fiber infrastructure spanning 4,620 kilometres of fiber, compared to MTN’s massive 39,972 kilometers.

The protracted crisis eventually led to the hurried exit of the Abu Dhabi based Mubadala, which transferred its 45 percent majority holdings in Etisalat Nigeria to Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services (EMTS) Limited in 2017. EMTS will later change the brand name from Etisalat to 9Mobile.

The change in ownership failed to alter the declining fortunes of the company with customers having to cope with poor service delivery like drop calls and network failures.

Ownership of the struggling firm yet again changed hands in July 2024 when LH Telecommunications Limited purchased it from EMTS at the cost of $750 million

The development raised hope of a revived 9mobile. However, six months down the lane, the new management is still battling to stem the declining drift towards bankruptcy.

BH checks revealed that the new owners up until January 5, 2025, did not outline any capital plan to revamp its weak infrastructure.

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As a result, the perennial network outages experienced by the operator, especially the latest one which has lingered for over one month, have forced more customers to move to other networks.

According to BH calculation, it will take the new owners over 200 years to recoup the $750 million it used to purchase the struggling firm if the annual average revenue per user (ARPU) of N1,616, totaling N5.87 billion ($3.5 million) 9mobile currently generates does not improve.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of 9mobile, Obafemi Banigbe, has announced plans to spend $ 3 billion on revamping its weak infrastructure.

According to Banigbe, the carrier will need to invest the amount on upgrading its entire network infrastructure to redefine its customers’ end-user experience.

Banigbe, who spoke via a Zoom call, lamented that 9mobile had suffered from lack of investment over the last 10 years, a development that had led to service degradation and loss of subscribers.

He, however, disclosed that a group of investors had committed to funding the resuscitation of the struggling carrier to win over lost subscribers.

 

According to him, the company’s new management had mapped out four phases: stabilization, modernization, transformation, and growth in its recovery march, vowing to win back customers, who left the network due to service degradation.

He concluded by saying that the company will work towards recapturing its niche market, which includes Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the youth population.

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