Nigeria’s data consumption has hit an all-time monthly high of 1,000,930.60 terabytes in January 2025, crossing the one million terabyte threshold for the first time on record, according to latest official market indicators reviewed by Technology Times.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) data reveal that the nation’s data usage has steadily climbed from 517,670.15 terabytes in January 2023 to over one million terabytes in January 2025 — a surge of nearly 93% in two years, signalling intensified reliance on digital platforms by individual and enterprise consumers across Nigeria.
The January 2025 threshold has remained unbeaten as peak in January 2025 is followed by 893,054.80 terabytes in February, and 995,876.10 terabytes in March, underscoring a sustained high-level consumption trend in the first quarter of year 2025.
According to NCC data, active subscriptions rose steadily from 169.3 million in January 2025 to 172.7 million in March 2025. Although this recovery follows previous months of fluctuation, it demonstrates that as access stabilises and expands, data demand surges in parallel. This synchronicity between subscription growth and data use underscores the strong correlation between increased network access and consumer reliance on internet services.
Nigeria: Inside Africa’s largest telecoms market
In Nigeria, Africa’s largest telecoms market by subscriber base, the historic surge in data consumption in January 2025, crossing one million terabytes for the first time, occurs alongside notable shifts in active telecoms subscriptions across the country.
According to NCC data, active subscriptions rose steadily from 169.3 million in January 2025 to 172.7 million in March 2025. Although this recovery follows previous months of fluctuation, it demonstrates that as access stabilises and expands, data demand surges in parallel. This synchronicity between subscription growth and data use underscores the strong correlation between increased network access and consumer reliance on internet services.
From a teledensity perspective, the data shows Nigeria regaining momentum in coverage. Teledensity improved from 78.10% in January 2025 to 79.67% in March 2025, suggesting that mobile network coverage is expanding, likely through the restoration of inactive lines and network optimisation in underserved areas. This trend is significant because it provides a wider user base with consistent internet access, contributing to increased per capita data consumption. It also signals the sector’s gradual recovery from regulatory, economic, or operational challenges that may have caused the earlier subscription dips between mid-2023 and early 2024.
Viewed over a multi-year period, subscription growth has more than doubled from approximately 92 million in 2015 to over 172 million by early 2025, reflecting Nigeria’s long-term digital expansion. While teledensity figures vary due to evolving population baselines, the sustained rise in subscription volumes suggests the telecom industry is underpinning Nigeria’s transition to a more connected society. This ongoing expansion, coupled with rapid growth in data use, calls attention to critical national priorities such as spectrum availability, rural broadband development, and consumer protection as digital access becomes a fundamental public utility.
Nigeria’s basic internet landscape continues to shift towards higher-generation networks, with 4G and 5G steadily displacing legacy technologies. In March 2025, 4G connections accounted for 48.82% of all internet subscriptions, nearly doubling their share from March 2024, which stood at just 33.56%. The trend reflects a sustained migration from 2G and 3G services, driven by telecoms operators’ network upgrades and consumer demand for faster mobile broadband. 5G, although still nascent, rises incrementally to 2.70% by March 2025, up from 1.31% a year earlier, signalling gradual adoption as availability and compatible devices increase.
The trend reflects a sustained migration from 2G and 3G services, driven by telecoms operators’ network upgrades and consumer demand for faster mobile broadband. 5G, although still nascent, rises incrementally to 2.70% by March 2025, up from 1.31% a year earlier, signalling gradual adoption as availability and compatible devices increase.
Meanwhile, 2G continues to decline, dropping from 56.22% in April 2024 to 40.08% by March 2025. This contraction reflects reduced reliance on basic mobile internet, likely due to the phasing out of older devices and increasing data requirements from users. 3G maintains a relatively low but stable share, hovering around 8–9%, serving as a fallback where 4G or 5G coverage remains limited. The overall shift underscores Nigeria’s accelerating transition towards faster internet access, with implications for digital services, e-commerce, e-governance, and the broader economy, as improved connectivity becomes critical to supporting innovation and national development objectives.
Nigeria’s internet landscape remains overwhelmingly dominated by mobile (GSM) technology, which accounts for over 99% of all subscriptions as of March 2025, with 141.5 million active users. Despite month-to-month fluctuations, GSM subscriptions show resilience, maintaining growth after a slight dip in late 2024. The brief contraction—particularly between May and December 2024—likely reflects market corrections, SIM registration issues, or seasonal churn. However, by Q1 2025, the figures rebound, suggesting renewed consumer confidence, network investments, or promotional drives by mobile network operators. Conversely, legacy technologies like CDMA have effectively vanished from the market, underscoring Nigeria’s full transition to more scalable, spectrum-efficient platforms.
While fixed-line and VoIP services represent a fraction of total internet subscriptions, they reveal niche but consistent demand. Fixed wired connections, although limited in number (just 17,522 in March 2025), show a gradual climb from earlier lows, possibly tied to enterprise deployments or government-backed infrastructure programmes. VoIP subscriptions, more dynamic in nature, peaked above 400,000 in mid-2021 and now stand at 208,482, indicating a slowdown that may reflect user migration to mobile-based apps and declining reliance on standalone VoIP services. Meanwhile, ISP (wired/wireless) subscriptions remain static at 285,702 since mid-2023, suggesting a saturation point or incomplete reporting. The overall data signals that Nigeria’s internet evolution continues to hinge on mobile growth, with fixed and niche services playing supporting but increasingly specialised roles.
Nigeria’s broadband on growth trajectory
Nigeria’s broadband penetration has followed a steady upward trajectory from December 2021 (approx. 40.88%) to March 2025 (47.73%), reflecting sustained national efforts to expand internet access and digital inclusion. The most significant gains are seen from late 2023 to early 2025, during which penetration improved by over 6 percentage points—a period that likely benefited from infrastructure rollouts and favourable regulatory shifts. This aligns with broader mobile subscription growth, suggesting a parallel expansion in last-mile broadband connectivity, especially through mobile networks.
Nigeria’s broadband penetration has followed a steady upward trajectory from December 2021 (approx. 40.88%) to March 2025 (47.73%), reflecting sustained national efforts to expand internet access and digital inclusion.
However, the data also reveals short-term volatility, particularly in mid-2023, where broadband penetration dropped from 47.01% in July to 40.85% by September, before recovering. Such fluctuations may reflect technical adjustments, data reclassifications, or SIM/broadband usage audits that temporarily affected reported figures. Despite these dips, the overall trend remains positive, positioning Nigeria closer to the national broadband plan targets. If this momentum continues—driven by investments in 4G/5G, rural access initiatives, and fibre optic expansion—broadband coverage is on track to surpass the 50% threshold in the near future.
MTN Nigeria remains dominant operator with 90.49 million subscribers
As of March 2025, MTN remains the dominant operator in Nigeria’s telecoms market with 90.49 million subscribers, representing 52.48% of total market share. This gives MTN a commanding lead over its rivals, indicating strong network coverage, brand loyalty, and service penetration across urban and rural segments. Airtel follows as the second-largest operator with 58.26 million subscribers and 33.78% market share, consolidating its position as a key challenger in the voice and data market. Together, MTN and Airtel control over 86% of the market, highlighting a duopolistic structure that may limit competition from smaller players.
As of March 2025, MTN remains the dominant operator in Nigeria’s telecoms market with 90.49 million subscribers, representing 52.48% of total market share. This gives MTN a commanding lead over its rivals, indicating strong network coverage, brand loyalty, and service penetration across urban and rural segments.
Globacom, once a more prominent contender, now holds just 12.01% market share with 20.72 million subscribers, suggesting declining competitiveness, possibly due to infrastructure, customer service, or pricing challenges. Meanwhile, 9mobile continues to struggle with a shrinking base, accounting for only 1.72% of the market and fewer than 3 million subscribers. This stark disparity points to urgent strategic and financial restructuring needs if 9mobile is to remain viable. The data underscores a pressing need for regulatory support to promote competition, innovation, and equitable access across Nigeria’s telecom sector.
Nigeria and the one million terabytes data milestone
The milestone data consumption rate also reflects wider digital adoption across Nigeria, as broadband penetration, mobile connectivity, and smartphone usage continue to drive data demand in the nation’s telecommunications market.
Real-world scenarios: What one million terabytes looks like
To put 1,000,930.60 terabytes of data into context, the figure equates to:
- 212 billion streaming hours of YouTube videos in standard definition. Assuming one hour of standard-definition video streaming consumes about 4.7 megabytes per minute (or roughly 282MB per hour), Nigerians could stream over 212 billion hours of YouTube content within a month using one million terabytes.
- 250 billion WhatsApp voice messages. With an average WhatsApp voice note of 4 seconds using about 40 kilobytes, the data consumed in January 2025 could carry approximately 250 billion voice notes, reflecting the dominance of mobile social messaging in Nigeria.
- 143 million HD movies. At an average of 7 gigabytes per HD movie, Nigerians’ monthly data use could download or stream over 143 million HD films, indicating a substantial level of engagement with streaming and video-on-demand services.
- 13.3 billion hours of online radio or music streaming. At an average 75MB per hour of music streaming, platforms like Spotify, Boomplay, and Apple Music could deliver over 13 billion hours of listening content to Nigerian audiences using January’s data volume.
- The entire printed collection of the U.S. Library of Congress—repeated 100,000 times. The digital equivalent of the entire printed collection of the U.S. Library of Congress is estimated at 10 terabytes. With over one million terabytes consumed, Nigerians have effectively moved the equivalent of that entire archive 100,000 times in a single month.
The regulator is expected to strengthen initiatives on spectrum availability, infrastructure sharing, and quality of service frameworks, ensuring Nigeria’s telecoms ecosystem evolves with its growing digital footprint.
Five scenarios: What one million terabytes mean for Nigeria
- Infrastructure strain and investment signals: Nigeria’s surpassing of one million terabytes monthly sets a clear signal to network operators and policymakers on the mounting strain on existing telecoms infrastructure. The trend demands aggressive investment in backbone networks, fibre optics, and last-mile connectivity to meet current and future bandwidth needs without service degradation.
- Acceleration of digital economy adoption: The data spike corresponds with the Federal Government’s push towards a digital economy, with increased uptake in sectors including fintech, e-learning, telehealth, and remote work. As more services move online, the crossing of the one million terabyte mark aligns with Nigeria’s digital transformation goals outlined under the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).
- Urban-rural usage divide: While national figures soar, NCC data aggregates do not disclose disaggregated regional patterns, raising questions about equitable data access. The peak usage may highlight concentrated consumption in urban centres, potentially exacerbating the urban-rural digital divide unless matched by inclusive broadband rollout strategies.
- Implications for consumer cost and quality: High demand can influence pricing models and service quality. With increased network traffic, service providers may face challenges balancing competitive pricing with infrastructure maintenance and upgrades, which can impact consumer experiences in Nigeria’s price-sensitive telecoms market.
- Regulatory and policy direction: For Dr Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, the data milestone may serve as a critical indicator for shaping future policy. The regulator is expected to strengthen initiatives on spectrum availability, infrastructure sharing, and quality of service frameworks, ensuring Nigeria’s telecoms ecosystem evolves with its growing digital footprint.
Nigerian telecoms market: Sustained growth trend
The upward trajectory in data consumption from early 2023 through Q1 2025 underscores Nigeria’s increasing dependence on internet connectivity. It also raises strategic questions for operators, regulators, and policymakers around sustaining this momentum without compromising accessibility and affordability.
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