Despite 9Mobile’s Survival Story, Telecom Service Gaps Extend to T2

The service provider 9mobile had about 13 million lines in February 2022, when the article Don’t Let 9Mobile Die was published. It had many well-wishers and at the same time was struggling by fighting for its survival amongst competitors. It had obligations that it could barely fulfil, and some of us believed that given the potentially far-reaching outcomes which would be better for pertinent parties to work for its survival rather than let it fail.

At the time, an article was published on “Based on all the evidence, 9MOBILE requires the full understanding and assistance and support from all the different stakeholders in order to muster the guts and zeal necessary to start fulfilling its responsibilities to its suppliers, creditors, and service providers once more.

To stay up to date with the financial health of the mobile operators, the regulator ought to focus more on their corporate governance practices. or try to recognise when certain tricks are being used.

With this the Nigeria’s telecommunications sector acknowledges the fact of facing review over continuous service delivery failures, with the recent rebranding of struggling operator 9Mobile to T2 but still continues to frustrate millions of subscribers across the country.

This is coming after the organisation declared last week that it would now be known as T2. It’s a pretty intriguing name that is resonating. According to quotes from the event, CEO Obafemi Banigbe said this is not just a logo change, it’s a total evolution of who we are, why we exist, and how we deliver value.

Statistics from Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that 9mobile subscriber base has gone down drastically from over 22 million at its peak to just 3.2 million as of January 2025. 

With significant funding from the United Arab Emirates (Mubadala), the business entered Nigeria in 2007 under the name Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (EMTS). In 2017, it changed its name to Etisalat, then to 9Mobile, and finally to T2. The business 9Mobile is said to claim that it is with history has been somewhat controversial with it revolution from EMTS to T2, which was just last week rebranding to T2 marks its third identity change in less than two decades.

Perhaps all the market can hope for is that this isn’t the story of the rolling stone that doesn’t collect moss.

When Thomas Etu, the chairman of EMTS, said to the audience that “Today marks a new beginning for the 9Mobile business,” it was comprehensible. It’s been a boring march. The trip has been really taxing.

Etu claimed that his investment in the company, which has experienced some commercial setbacks, was motivated by his faith in the country. He must be a guy of courage, and the country needs more people like him.

At present the Chief Executive Officer Obafemi Banigbe described the latest transformation as more than cosmetic. “This is not just a logo change, it’s a total evolution of who we are, why we exist, and how we deliver value,” he told reporters at the announcement ceremony.

However, it is in question whether this change would address the issues such as service quality, poor network coverage, dropped calls, and unreliable internet services to mention a few.

Telecommunications critics state that the sector’s problems extend beyond company struggles and challenges.

Experts suggest  that subscriber growth and promos have outdone  investment in network infrastructure and service improvement. This approach has created a disconnect between marketing promises and service delivery.

According to market research, consumer frustration has reached its breaking point with telecommunications services. Subscribers now accept poor service as normal rather than expecting reliable communications services. Regular network outages, slow data speeds, and connectivity issues have become part of the customer expectations.

The telecommunications  service delivery problems have bigger economic issues. Poor connectivity always  affects business operations, limits digital growth, and Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global digital marketplace. The success of  9mobile’s latest change will serve as a case study for the industry’s ability to address delivery challenges. It will monitor whether this rebrand is a chance for operational improvement.

With the knowledge of ‘anything can happen’, in which people will continue to suffer because they accept it as fate. The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) recently expressed grave worries regarding service interruptions due to problems with the logistics of supplying diesel to cell sites throughout the nation.

ALTON said in a statement, “We have received credible reports that members of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) blocked access to diesel loading depots in Kaduna, Lagos, and Koko (Delta State) on Tuesday, preventing the distribution of diesel to thousands of telecommunications sites operated by one of our key members, IHS Towers.”

As simple as that and in order to give service providers and their subscribers a sense of their significance, the fuel suppliers had to put the entire telecoms industry at peril since they were unable to wait for a routine trade dispute to be settled which is a crazy act.

Too many negative actions have become accepted and unhealthy for the nation. Failure is accepted as usual and there are plenty of reasons to blame in practically every industry, including the provision of social amenities. Since the telecom sector has a regulator that we can easily identify, poor performance and behaviour shouldn’t be accepted as the standard, and justifications should be prohibited.

The only person who does not see the state of the telecommunications industry is the regulator. Right now, the user experience isn’t appealing. Therefore, the proposition to ban be imposed on all promotions in the sector while the regulator does everything in its power to revive 9Mobile, which is now T2. We all have an interest in the industry’s success.