New Telecom Company in Nigeria: Should You Wait for STN's SIM?

Should you hold off on data and airtime until Swift Telephone Network (STN), the new telecom company in Nigeria, starts selling SIMs? No. STN has a licence but no SIM yet, and nothing you pay this month will get cheaper because of it.

On 30 September 2026, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved a Unified Access Service Licence for Swift Telephone Network Ltd. As at 1 October 2026, STN has no launch date, SIM, price list or coverage map.

Who is STN, the new telecom company in Nigeria?

STN isn't a brand-new name. Legit reports that Swift Telephone Network began in 1998, selling landlines and voicemail and running connectivity projects for clients such as the WHO and the Nigerian military.

Then it went quiet.

In 2010 the company stopped operating after it lost infrastructure and went through boardroom trouble. Oluwole Adetuyi, now its managing director and CEO, brought it back with Yetunde Okafor, who heads legal affairs, and the old licence was reinstated in 2019. STN applied for this bigger licence in February 2022. The answer took more than four years. Speaking to Leadership, Adetuyi put it this way: "this licence is not the destination. It is the bridge."

Don't mix it up with T2, the network that used to be called 9mobile. Right now the full list of mobile telecom companies in Nigeria is short: MTN, Airtel, Glo and T2. STN joins it only on the day it launches.

What the licence lets STN do

A Unified Access Service Licence (UASL) is one permit that covers several kinds of service across the whole country. According to Nigeria Communications Week, STN's licence covers fixed lines, digital mobile, national long-distance calls and an international gateway, which means STN may carry calls in and out of Nigeria. It runs for 10 years at first. The same report says the NCC can renew or modify it under Section 32 of the Nigerian Communications Act.

Here's the part the headlines skip: a licence is permission, not a working network. Think of a driving licence with no car.

Before an STN SIM can work, the company still needs four things in place:

1. Radio spectrum to broadcast on.
2. A block of phone numbers from the NCC.
3. Towers, either its own or shared with another operator.
4. Interconnect deals, so you can call friends on MTN or Airtel from an STN line.

So far STN hasn't announced any of these, and until it does, the licence is a promise on paper that your phone can't use.

When can you buy an STN SIM?

Nobody knows yet. STN hasn't given a launch date, a SIM price, a number prefix or a call and data tariff.

Leadership reported that STN plans to announce "strategic partnerships and roll-out plans in the coming weeks". That's a promise to share plans later, and it says nothing about when you'll see an STN SIM on the counter at your local phone shop.

Watch for three signs that a launch is close: an official STN announcement with prices, an NCC number range for STN, and a spectrum award to the company. If someone in your family WhatsApp group forwards an "STN data plan" flyer before any of those signs appear, you can safely ignore it. Check first. Before you pay anybody for anything with STN's name on it, look on the NCC website or a reputable news site.

Will a new network push MTN and Airtel to cut prices?

Maybe one day, but a licence on its own won't do it. Start with who holds the customers. NCC figures for July, reported by Businessamlive, show how the country's mobile lines split.

Active mobile lines by network, July 2026 (NCC data via Businessamlive):

Together, MTN and Airtel hold about 86% of all active lines. Even T2, a network people have used for years, has a tiny slice. A newcomer starts from zero, so it has to build or rent coverage in the places where you live and work before switching makes any sense for you.

Price pressure follows coverage. A cheap plan won't help you if the signal drops every time you walk into your kitchen. Big networks only feel pushed when a rival works well near their customers. That takes towers, money and time, and STN hasn't said how much of each it has.

Some recent news points the other way. In September, BusinessDay and TechCabal reported that Mafab Communications wants NCC approval to hand its 5G airwaves to MTN. Neither company had confirmed the deal, and the NCC hadn't commented. If it goes ahead, the biggest network gets more airwaves while an independent spectrum holder steps out.

What data and airtime cost today, so you're not waiting for nothing

STN has no live service, so you won't find it on AidaPay. These are MTN data transfer prices and airtime cashback in the AidaPay app, as at 1 October 2026.

For your own line or someone else's, buy MTN data transfer plans with cashback or buy airtime online with cashback.

Look at the 3GB row first. Per gigabyte it matches the 1GB weekly plan, yet it lasts a whole month, so you top up once instead of four times. Four weekly top-ups would cost ₦1,600. If a month's browsing fits inside 3GB, the monthly plan is the cheaper habit.

Prices change often, so check again before you pay. Our guide to the cheapest ways to buy data in Nigeria today compares more options across the networks.

Should you port your number to STN when it launches?

Keep your current line for now. Your NIN, your bank and nearly every OTP you get when you log in, pay a bill or reset a password are tied to that number. Don't gamble with it.

If STN does launch, start with its SIM as a second line and use it at home, at work and on your usual routes for a couple of weeks. Move your main number only if the signal and the prices both hold up.

Moving your number to another network is called porting. Here is how the NCC's consumer portal describes it:

1. Go to the network you want to join, with a valid ID.
2. Fill in the porting form there.
3. Wait 24 to 48 hours for your number to move to the new SIM.

Porting is free. To check on a request, text PORT to 3232. Don't rush it, because the portal says you can port only once every 90 days.

We'll update this page when STN publishes prices or a launch date. Until then, buy the plan that fits this month's budget, not one for a SIM you can't get yet.

Frequently asked questions

Published 1 October 2026. Prices and codes change - if you spot one that has moved, tell us and we will fix it.