IHS Towers cuts ties with 9mobile over unpaid bills

November 13, 2025

IHS Towers cuts ties with 9mobile over unpaid bills

IHS Towers has asked telecom operator 9mobile to vacate 2,576 tower sites starting in the third quarter of 2025.

The exit follows a revised agreement between the two companies, which also commits the operator, now rebranded as T2, to clear parts of its long-standing debt through July 2027.

IHS confirmed the new terms in its latest Q3 financial report, describing 9mobile as its “smallest Key Customer in Nigeria.” The company posted revenues of $455.1 million for Q3 2025, up 8.3% year-on-year.

Organic growth added $27.6 million, while inorganic revenue dropped $12.8 million after its Kuwait exit. Tenant churn tied to 9mobile accounted for 2,576 of the 3,529 total site losses during the quarter, cutting IHS’ total tenants to 57,691.

The agreement underlines how 9mobile’s network has continued to shrink since its Etisalat days. Once a strong fourth carrier, the operator has struggled with subscriber losses, heavy debt, and patchy coverage.

Exiting thousands of tower sites will help reduce costs, but leave major gaps in its network footprint.

For T2, losing access to over 2,500 IHS towers creates immediate operational challenges. The company now faces two options: secure space from competitors like American Tower Corporation (ATC), or lean on its national roaming deal with MTN Nigeria.

Approved by the Nigerian Communications Commission in July 2025, the three-year agreement allows T2 subscribers to connect through MTN’s network while rebuilding its own infrastructure.

The arrangement offers short-term relief but can’t replace owning towers in the long term.

Tower infrastructure is the backbone of every mobile network. Operators like MTN and Airtel lease space from companies such as IHS and American Towers to avoid the high costs of ownership.

For smaller carriers, losing access to leased sites can quickly translate into dropped calls, slower data speeds, and customer churn.

IHS, meanwhile, is adjusting its own portfolio. The tower company has been shedding markets to manage currency exposure and improve liquidity. It sold its businesses in Kuwait and Peru in 2024 and finalised the sale of its Rwanda operations to Paradigm Tower Ventures for $274.5 million in October 2025.

IHS now runs over 39,000 towers across eight countries, with Nigeria accounting for more than 16,000, about 43% of its portfolio. The market remains its largest source of income, contributing roughly 63% of group revenue.

“This agreement extends a mutually beneficial relationship while improving our receivables visibility,” IHS said in its earnings statement. For the company, the 9mobile exit will reduce near-term lease income but could limit future credit risk.

The pressure on smaller operators like T2 reflects the broader strain across Nigeria’s telecom sector.

Rising inflation, FX volatility, and infrastructure costs are forcing carriers to rethink how they share and finance towers. IHS recently renewed its long-term lease with MTN Nigeria through 2032, signaling a shift toward securing stable, high-volume clients.

An eight year struggle

9mobile’s troubles date back to 2017, when it defaulted on over $1.2 billion in debt, prompting Etisalat Group to exit Nigeria. The business was taken over by a consortium of local banks and renamed 9mobile.

In 2024, LH Telecommunication Limited acquired a 95.5% stake, and by August 2025, it rebranded the network to T2, pitching it as a youth-driven, digital-first operator.

The IHS development comes as other tower providers are also consolidating. In October 2025, American Tower Corporation said it would streamline operations in West Africa after facing similar tenant churn.

T2 has not commented publicly on how it plans to manage coverage once the site exits begin. For now, its focus appears to be debt restructuring and securing new investors.

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