When Lebara Nigeria, a subsidiary of the London-based Cellular Digital Community Operator (MVNO) Lebara, launches in Q3 2025, it would problem the norm of conventional airtime gross sales by providing voice bundles and knowledge packages tailor-made to particular person wants. This transfer will give subscribers extra management over their spending, scale back the price of calls, and ship longer discuss time and searching worth.

Lebara’s choice to supply voice bundles as a substitute of conventional airtime underscores a significant shift in Nigeria’s extremely price-sensitive telecom market. In a market the place ₦100 airtime typically vanishes with out clear utilization breakdowns, voice bundles provide predictable, real-time billing with no hidden expenses. For buyers, this mannequin displays a lean, tech-driven operation with robust potential for fast progress, particularly given Lebara’s international MVNO expertise and low operational overhead. For regulators, it validates the transfer to open the market to MVNOs. And for incumbent gamers, it serves as a wake-up name to evolve or danger dropping floor to extra agile, customer-focused entrants.

Lebara’s entry into Nigeria aligns with the Nigerian Communications Fee’s (NCC) broader agenda to broaden competitors, enhance service high quality, and drive innovation by way of Cellular Digital Community Operator (MVNO) licensing. By permitting MVNOs to supply providers over present telecom infrastructure, comparable to fibre networks and base stations, with out the heavy funding of constructing it themselves, the NCC goals to decrease prices and enhance entry, particularly in underserved areas. For subscribers, this interprets into extra reasonably priced, tailor-made voice and knowledge plans.

International locations like South Africa, Kenya, and Morocco have extra established MVNO ecosystems, because of earlier regulatory help, mature telecom infrastructure, and better cell penetration. South Africa, for instance, has a number of lively MVNOs—together with FNB Join and Me&You—backed by robust shopper demand for area of interest, cost-effective providers. Kenya’s ecosystem thrives resulting from its digital-savvy inhabitants and sturdy cell cash integration, whereas Morocco’s regulatory framework has lengthy inspired telecom competitors. 

In distinction, Nigeria, regardless of being Africa’s largest telecom market by subscriber base, solely started issuing MVNO licences in 2023 resulting from earlier regulatory hesitation, infrastructure challenges, and a market lengthy dominated by a couple of highly effective Cellular Community Operators (MNOs). With the NCC now actively supporting MVNOs to foster competitors and broaden entry, the ecosystem is lastly starting to take off.

Lebara will function underneath a Tier 5 Unified Digital Operator licence—essentially the most complete class inside Nigeria’s MVNO framework—secured by way of VAS2Net, a neighborhood value-added service supplier, in March 2024. Legitimate by way of 2034, this licence permits Lebara to supply a full vary of telecom providers. Not like Cellular Community Operators (MNOs) comparable to MTN, Airtel, or Globacom, which construct and preserve huge infrastructure, Lebara will lease capability from present networks and construct its choices on high..

The distinction is important. Airtime is a versatile pay as you go credit score usable for calls, SMS, or knowledge at commonplace pay-as-you-go charges, however usually comes with larger per-minute expenses. Voice bundles, then again, provide mounted name minutes at discounted charges and infrequently include utilization perks. Whereas airtime fits customers on the lookout for flexibility, voice bundles are perfect for frequent callers who need predictability and higher worth.

“You purchase minutes, not airtime,” defined Samuel Alabi, Head of Company Communications at Lebara Nigeria. “In case your name ends in 30 seconds, you continue to have 99 minutes and 30 seconds left. That’s the type of readability and management we’re bringing to Nigerian telecoms.”

Betting on decrease operational price

Lebara bets that as an MVNO, it will probably outmaneuver conventional gamers weighed down by huge operational prices. Whereas MNOs should preserve sprawling infrastructure and hundreds of staff, Lebara retains lean by driving on associate networks and leveraging software program, partnerships, and automation. The corporate is betting it will probably undercut incumbents and win market share in an business projected to achieve $20 billion this 12 months.

“Our operational price is decrease, so our costs could be too,” mentioned Alabi. “It’s like how fintechs disrupted banks—you don’t want a department on each avenue to supply nice monetary providers.”

That mannequin permits Lebara to tailor merchandise for particular person wants. Whether or not you’re a tech bro downloading software program or a social media addict glued to TikTok, there’s a bundle tailor-made to the particular exercise you wish to conduct on-line. Heavy callers get voice minutes, not complicated unit-based billing. And sure, there will probably be each bodily SIMs and eSIMs at launch.

The problem of Nigeria’s telecom panorama

However the path to launching an MVNO in Nigeria isn’t easy. The ecosystem has lengthy been dominated by just some MNOs, MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria. Infrastructure is patchy, costs are opaque, and repair high quality varies broadly.

“The telecom sector right here isn’t simply affected by {hardware} gaps,” mentioned Alabi. “It’s additionally the software program—each actually and figuratively. It’s one factor to have an iPhone; it’s one other to know find out how to use it.”

That is the place Lebara hopes authorities help could make a distinction. To succeed, MVNOs want regulatory backing, infrastructure-sharing legal guidelines, and collaboration between personal gamers and the general public sector.

As of Could 2025, the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) has issued not less than 41 MVNO licences throughout 5 tiers, making Nigeria considered one of Africa’s most dynamic MVNO markets. The NCC initially licensed 25 firms in 2023, however by late 2024, the quantity had grown to 41, with firms paying a mixed ₦8.6 billion ($5.4 million) in licence charges. The MVNOs in Nigeria are betting on innovation, customer-centric choices, digital and monetary providers integration, and strategic partnerships to carve out market share and drive progress in a extremely aggressive telecom panorama. 

“MVNOs can’t work with out authorities involvement,” Alabi emphasised. “The NCC’s licensing is an effective begin, however this needs to be a real private-public partnership. That’s why we’re working with the Ministry of Arts, Tradition, Tourism, and Inventive Economic system to make sure the atmosphere helps innovation.”

The purpose is to unlock competitors and shake up an area the place too few gamers management an excessive amount of. “With solely three main MNOs, it’s not simple to get them in a room and agree on pricing,” Alabi mentioned pointedly. “MVNOs change that.”

Constructing by way of partnerships

Two main partnerships backed Lebara’s Nigerian launch. Swedish telecom platform Telness Tech is powering the digital infrastructure, whereas Nigerian agency VAS2Nets gives native licensing and regulatory compliance help.

These partnerships guarantee Lebara received’t be caught reinventing the wheel. VAS2Nets already works with different telcos on brief code licensing and different compliance areas, whereas Telness brings scalability, enabling Lebara to customize its choices for the Nigerian market.

“Lebara has been profitable with this mannequin in different markets. If they’ve stable relationships with influential executives inside the cell operators in Nigeria, there is no such thing as a purpose why they received’t achieve success right here as nicely,“ mentioned Ladi Okuneye, CEO of UniCloud, a cloud computing supplier with operations in Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana. 

Lebara operates immediately as an MVNO in 5 European international locations: the UK, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany. Along with its direct operations, Lebara’s model can be used underneath licence agreements in 4 different international locations: Australia, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, and Spain. 

What to anticipate at launch

Lebara is at the moment in superior testing phases with an undisclosed MNO which it has leased its infrastructure. The preliminary rollout will cowl Lagos and the remainder of the Southwest, with Abuja and Port Harcourt coming subsequent. Inside six months, the corporate plans nationwide protection.

Subscribers can port their numbers, request eSIMs, or choose up conventional SIM playing cards. And in what is perhaps considered one of its most unusual choices, Lebara plans to associate with native governments and cultural establishments to construct public WiFi hubs, providing near-free web to prospects in choose areas.

“Within the UK, for those who’re on the practice or inside a constructing and there’s a hub close by, your cellphone connects routinely. That’s what we wish to recreate right here,” Alabi mentioned.

As Nigeria’s telecom market evolves and subscribers develop more and more vocal about service high quality, Lebara is betting on simplicity, transparency, and affordability to win over disillusioned customers. After years of putting up with dropped calls, hidden expenses, and inconsistent service, many Nigerians have come to count on much less. Lebara’s mission is to problem that expectation.

“We’ve gotten so used to asking, ‘Are you able to hear me now?’ that we’ve forgotten we shouldn’t need to,” mentioned Alabi with a smile. “Lebara is right here to vary that.”