Airtel Networks Limited

Airtel Networks Limited, commonly known as Airtel Nigeria, is a leading mobile network operator in Nigeria. It is a subsidiary of Airtel Africa, the holding company for Bharti Airtel's operations across 14 African countries. The company is headquartered at Plot L2, Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, a major economic hub in Nigeria. Airtel Nigeria is the second-largest telecommunications company in Nigeria by number of customers, behind MTN Nigeria. According to subscriber statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on 30 August 2019, Airtel Nigeria held a 26.8% mobile telephone market share with 46.8 million subscribers. In terms of mobile internet users, it ranked second with 32.4 million subscribers as of July 2019. The company was founded in 2001 as Econet Nigeria and was awarded a Digital Mobile License (DML) for communication services in Nigeria. It made history on 5 August 2001 by becoming the first telecommunications service provider to launch commercial GSM services in Nigeria. Through a series of ownership changes, the company was known as Vmobile, then acquired by Celtel in May 2006, rebranded as Zain in 2008, and finally became part of Bharti Airtel in 2010 when Bharti Airtel completed the acquisition of Zain Group's Africa business in a $10.7 billion transaction. Airtel Nigeria operates in a highly competitive Nigerian telecom market, offering mobile voice and data services. Its parent, Airtel Africa, listed 3,758,151,504 ordinary shares on the main board of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on 9 July 2019 at an offer price of ₦363 per ordinary share. The company is led by managing director and CEO C. Surendran, who took over from Segun Ogunsanya on 1 August 2021.

Airtel Networks Limited was founded in 2001 as Econet Nigeria and was awarded a Digital Mobile License (DML) for communication services in Nigeria. On 5 August 2001, it made history by becoming the first telecommunications service provider to launch commercial GSM services in Nigeria. In 2004, Vodacom took charge of the company as management changed hands. Later in 2004, Vee Networks took the reins and the company became known as Vmobile. In May 2006, Vmobile was acquired by Celtel. In 2008, Zain Group acquired all of Celtel International's shares for over $3 billion, and all Celtel Africa operations were rebranded from Celtel to Zain. In 2010, Bharti Airtel, the parent company of Airtel Nigeria, completed the acquisition of Zain Group's Africa business in a $10.7 billion transaction, leading to the current Airtel branding. On 9 July 2019, Airtel Africa, the holding firm of Airtel Nigeria, listed 3,758,151,504 ordinary shares on the main board of the Nigerian Stock Exchange at an offer price of ₦363 per ordinary share. In terms of leadership, Segun Ogunsanya served as managing director and CEO from November 2012 until 2021. On 6 May 2021, Airtel announced C. Surendran as the new managing director and CEO, effective August 1, 2021.

• Founded as Econet Nigeria and awarded Digital Mobile License (DML).

• Launched first commercial GSM services in Nigeria.

• Vodacom took charge; later Vee Networks took over and rebranded as Vmobile.

• Acquired by Celtel.

• Zain Group acquired Celtel International; rebranded to Zain.

• Bharti Airtel completed acquisition of Zain Group's Africa business for $10.7 billion.

• Airtel Africa listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

• C. Surendran became Managing Director and CEO.

Second-largest mobile network operator in Nigeria by subscribers, with a strong focus on mobile voice and data services.

• Mobile voice services

  GSM mobile telephony services.

• Mobile data services

  Mobile internet and data services.

• 2026

  KaaTruths and podcaster sue MTN, Globacom, Airtel, MultiChoice and FCCPC over consumer rights

  KaaTruths Podcast Limited and podcaster Ophoke Armstrong Amobi filed suit FHC/ABJ/CV/886/2026 at the Federal High Court in Abuja against MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Globacom Limited, Airtel Networks Limited and MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission joined as a defendant. The suit seeks N50bn in damages over alleged violations of consumers' rights concerning the expiry of unused data bundles and subscription periods.

  Source

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1. 1Airtel Networks Limited - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2KaaTruths and podcaster sue MTN, Globacom, Airtel, MultiChoice and FCCPC over consumer rightspunchng.com