Abuja - Seven years after launch, cellular services had transformed Nigeria's society and economy, bringing unprecedented changes in just a short time, according to officials.
Earlier this year, Nigeria outstripped South Africa as the continent's biggest market for mobile telephony.
Nigerian Communications Commission head Ernest Ndukwe said that as of March, there were 60.9 million subscribers - 70 times more than before cellular services were launched in 2001.
The opening up of the industry came with the licensing of three operators - MTN Nigeria, Econet Wireless Nigeria (first known as Celtel, now as Zain) and M-Tel, a unit of state-run group Nitel.
Local operator Globacom and United Arab Emirates group Etisalat were later licensed, but the latter has not yet started operations.
Analysts said MTN ranked as market leader, followed by Globacom and Zain, with the number of subscribers likely to rise by 10 million a year over the next five years.
"The exponential growth has pushed up Nigeria's from 0.73 percent in 2001 to 32.79 percent in March 2008," said Ndukwe.
Before the advent of cellphones, Nigeria had a congested and expensive landline system, with more than 10 million people waiting to be connected by the state-run telecoms monopoly Nitel in 2000.
"Connection costs were prohibitively high while the waiting time for fixed lines ran into years," said Ndukwe.
In 2001, then president Olusegun Obasanjo broke Nitel's monopoly by licensing private operators.
"Nothing has been the same since then," said Tayo Ekundayo, the MultiLinks spokesperson. "Nigeria has been transformed socially, economically and technologically as a result of that decision."
Fidel Otuya of Intercellular said: "The exponential growth of the last seven years is more than an explosion. It is a revolution which has changed our way of doing things - businesses, communications and security.
"The use of and calls has cemented social relations among Nigerians."
Nigeria is home to many different ethnic groups and faiths, and has experienced both civil war and sectarian unrest.
The sector had generated $2.5 billion (R19 billion) in taxes and attracted $15 billion of direct foreign investment, said Ekundayo.
As services have grown, costs have plummeted. The connection fee for a fixed line has crashed from about $500 seven years ago to $20.
A SIM card now costs less than $2, down from about $300 when the cellular operators first set up, and ownership of a phone is no longer a status symbol, as was the case before the liberalisation.
"Today market women, traders, students, artisans and even beggars own phones," said Abuja-based economist Olatunji Adisa.
The sector has created millions of jobs, many in the non-formal sector: mainly selling recharge cards, handsets and accessories.
Despite phenomenal growth, power, transmission and connectivity problems still dog the industry.
"A lot of money goes into running of generators to power our equipment and base stations," said Zain spokesperson Emmanuel Otokhire. "If the power problem can be solved, it will go a long way in improving our services."