Nigeria’s top telecom operators, MTN and Airtel, generated over N3.6 trillion from data services alone, reflecting the country’s growing demand for internet connectivity.
Data revenue has long surpassed voice as the primary income stream for mobile network operators, but recent financial reports show that the growth of data earnings has far outpaced that of voice services.
While a 50 per cent tariff increase introduced last year helped boost revenues, Nigerian Communications Commission figures indicate that steady increases in data consumption across the country were a major driver of the surge.
MTN Nigeria reported N2.8 trillion in data revenue for the year ended December 31, 2025, marking a 74.5 per cent increase from N1.6 trillion in 2024.
The company also revealed that data traffic rose by 34.0 per cent, while average data usage per subscriber climbed 20 per cent to 13.1GB over the same period.
“The structural demand for data in Nigeria was demonstrated by the 34.0% increase in data traffic on our network that underpinned our strong service revenue growth in the period,” MTN CEO, Karl Toriola stated in the report.
Airtel Nigeria posted strong data growth in its latest financial results for the nine months ended December 31, 2025, with data revenue rising 67.4 per cent to N838.6 billion ($560 million) from N500.8 billion ($344 million) in the same period of 2024.
The operator said average data usage per customer increased 26.2 per cent to 10.7GB per month, up from 8.4GB, while smartphone penetration grew 4.6 per cent to 54.1 per cent.
The company reported that average smartphone data usage per customer increased to 13.4GB per month, up from 11.2GB in the previous period.
Even after the 50 per cent tariff hike implemented by telecom operators in February last year, Nigerians’ appetite for data has continued to rise.
In May 2025, data consumption hit 1.04 million terabytes, the highest monthly figure since January 2023, when the NCC began releasing monthly data statistics.
Usage continued to climb steadily, reaching a new record of 1.38 million terabytes in December 2025.
