9mobile subscribers are encountering a brand new and irritating problem: they can not port their numbers to different networks resulting from persistent community outages in a number of elements of the nation. Regardless of these disruptions, 9mobile maintains that porting companies stay lively.
“Our prospects can nonetheless port out of our community in the event that they select to, and we comply absolutely with regulatory tips to make sure a easy course of,” stated Chineze Amanfo, 9mobile’s Public Relations Lead. “We encourage any buyer experiencing points to contact our assist workforce for help.”
The discrepancy between the corporate’s assurances and person experiences has raised considerations about transparency and entry, particularly as community reliability continues to say no.
For customers coping with frequent name disruptions, gradual web, or whole community outages, porting gives an important resolution. In April 2013, the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) launched Cellular Quantity Portability (MNP) to offer customers extra management and encourage competitors. The coverage permits telecom customers in Nigeria to change to a unique community with out shedding their current telephone quantity.
Porting requires each the donor (present) and recipient (new) networks to be on-line and responsive in actual time. Any outage, glitch, or downtime on both finish halts the porting course of solely. And that’s precisely what many 9mobile customers are actually going through.
Till January, 9mobile customers may port out with out challenge. In January 2025, the operator recorded 4,528 outgoing ports, making up practically 79% of all 5,710 ported numbers throughout the trade. MTN Nigeria adopted with 952 port-outs, Airtel had 130, and Globacom recorded simply 100.
Porting entails the subscriber sending “PORT” by way of SMS to a brief code to provoke the switch, after which the request is processed by a central Quantity Portability Clearing Home. But when 9mobile’s programs are down or unresponsive, the request can’t undergo, and subscribers can’t generate the code.
For some subscribers, the frustration has reached a breaking level. Oloruntoba Yusuf, a broadcaster and former 9mobile person, instructed TechCabal that after enduring two months of poor service, he tried and did not port.
“I gave up,” he stated. “ I modified my BVN quantity and threw the SIM card away. My sister-in-law nonetheless makes use of 9mobile and says the community hasn’t been restored.”
A TechCabal reporter tried to port from the community after 9mobile’s response to feedback and obtained the next message: “Your message has been obtained. When you’ve got not carried out so already, please proceed to the closest store of the community you need to port to.”
Rotimi Babs, an vitality marketing consultant and present 9mobile subscriber, stated the issues transcend unreliable service. Though community protection has been inconsistent, buying airtime and knowledge bundles has been much more irritating: banks debit his account, however 9mobile fails to credit score the info. Even making an attempt to purchase knowledge utilizing current airtime doesn’t work.
“I’ve migrated most of my communication away from the road,” Babs stated. “On the first alternative to port, I received’t hesitate.”
Some trade insiders declare the timing of the disruption in porting will not be coincidental. 9mobile is within the closing phases of negotiating a nationwide roaming settlement with MTN Nigeria. The deal would enable 9mobile to make use of MTN’s infrastructure to enhance its attain and repair high quality, particularly in underserved areas. In accordance with two sources conversant in the matter, the partnership might be introduced inside a couple of months.
“To safe extra beneficial phrases within the deal, 9mobile possible needs to retain as many subscribers as doable,” stated one telecom govt who needed to stay nameless to talk freely. “Blocking porting—even not directly—helps preserve these numbers steady.”
However Amanfo instructed TechCabal that the potential of switching off its community is zero.
“We work underneath strict regulatory tips,” she stated. “We can’t simply change off our community with out the specific permission of the NCC. You may verify this from the regulator as effectively.”
In December, 9mobile blamed ongoing technical glitches brought on by fibre cuts in a number of places for the problem in supplying high quality service. It denied deliberately blocking customers from leaving the community. Nonetheless, the operator’s sharp decline tells its personal story. Previously often known as Etisalat Nigeria, 9mobile held 15.7% market share in 2015. As of January 2025, it had dropped to 1.9%, with simply 3.2 million lively subscribers, and that quantity hasn’t modified for 3 months straight.
In a number of areas, together with many elements of Lagos, even remaining subscribers report full service blackouts. Whether or not the MTN roaming deal can revive 9mobile stays to be seen. However for now, lots of its prospects really feel trapped, with no sign and no manner out.