MTN Leads Nigeria’s Mobile Internet Rankings as Airtel, Glo Trail

MTN Nigeria has emerged as the mobile network with the best internet performance in 2025, outperforming rivals Airtel Nigeria and Globacom (Glo). This is according to a new analytical report by nPerf, a France-based mobile internet speed test platform.

In its report titled “Barometer of Mobile Internet Connections in Nigeria”, which analysed performance across 2025, MTN Nigeria topped the rankings with 37,106 nPoints. Airtel Nigeria followed in a distant second place with 25,614 nPoints, while Globacom ranked third with 20,475 nPoints.

The assessment was based on real user experience, drawing from speed tests conducted by Nigerian subscribers on the nPerf platform. Performance indicators included download and upload speeds, latency, browsing, and streaming quality.

How the networks were tested

nPerf explained that the analysis focused primarily on:

Busy hours: 6:00 pm – 11:00 pm

Idle hours: The rest of the day

In terms of test distribution, MTN accounted for 58% of all tests carried out in Nigeria, followed by Airtel with 24% and Glo with 18%—reflecting MTN’s broader subscriber base and usage intensity.

MTN dominates download and upload speeds

MTN Nigeria led across all major speed metrics in 2025.

Average download speed:

MTN: 18.65 Mb/s

Airtel: 10.57 Mb/s

Glo: 7.46 Mb/s

MTN also maintained the highest speeds during both busy hours (15.37 Mb/s) and idle hours (19.99 Mb/s), making it the preferred network for HD streaming and large downloads.

In upload performance:

MTN recorded an average of 8.70 Mb/s

Airtel followed with 4.74 Mb/s

Glo trailed at 3.85 Mb/s

Latency: MTN fastest, Glo beats Airtel

Latency—how quickly data travels across the network—also favoured MTN Nigeria. Lower latency means a more responsive connection, especially for gaming, video calls, and real-time applications.

MTN: 96.46 ms

Glo: 121.81 ms

Airtel: 141.12 ms

While MTN remained the most responsive network overall, Glo edged Airtel in this category.

Browsing and streaming performance

MTN again led in browsing and streaming experience:

Indicator MTN Airtel Glo
Browsing Performance 35.78% 29.45% 29.86%
Streaming Performance 67.02% 62.50% 52.44%

The results suggest MTN is best suited for video streaming, downloads, and video calls.

Glo performed relatively well in browsing, particularly for social media use, but lagged in streaming. Airtel, on the other hand, emerged as a strong alternative for streaming, though its higher latency affected browsing responsiveness.

What this means for Nigerian subscribers

According to nPerf, the 2025 results provide a clear guide for Nigerian consumers:

MTN Nigeria: Best overall experience for streaming, downloads, and video calls

Glo: Decent browsing performance but weaker streaming quality

Airtel: Competitive streaming performance, but higher latency impacts browsing

As data consumption continues to rise, the report highlights how network quality—not just pricing—remains a critical factor influencing user choice in Nigeria’s highly competitive telecoms market.