Nigeria’s two largest telecom operators, MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria, recorded combined data revenues exceeding N3.6 trillion in 2025, reflecting Nigerians’ growing dependence on internet services for work, entertainment, and income generation.

Data has overtaken voice calls as the dominant revenue stream for mobile network operators in recent years. However, the pace of growth in data earnings has significantly outstripped that of voice, according to the companies’ latest financial disclosures.

Although a 50 per cent tariff increase implemented in early 2025 contributed to the revenue boost, industry statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) show that data consumption rose steadily throughout the year, underscoring strong underlying demand.

Revenue and usage climb sharply

For the year ended December 31, 2025, MTN Nigeria posted N2.8 trillion in data revenue, a 74.5 per cent increase compared to the N1.6 trillion recorded in 2024. The company reported a 34 per cent rise in data traffic, while average usage per subscriber grew by 20 per cent to 13.1GB annually.

MTN’s Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, attributed the performance to “structural demand” for connectivity, noting that rising data traffic underpinned the company’s strong service revenue growth.

Similarly, Airtel Nigeria reported N838.6 billion in data revenue for the nine months ended December 31, 2025 a 67.4 per cent jump from N500.8 billion in the corresponding period of 2024.

The operator disclosed that data consumption per customer increased by 26.2 per cent to 10.7GB per month, up from 8.4GB previously. Smartphone penetration also rose by 4.6 percentage points to 54.1 per cent. Among smartphone users, monthly data usage climbed to 13.4GB, compared to 11.2GB in the prior period.

Record-breaking consumption

Despite higher tariffs, NCC figures show Nigerians continued to consume data at record levels. In May 2025, total national data usage reached 1.04 million terabytes the highest monthly volume recorded since the regulator began publishing such data in January 2023.

Consumption continued to trend upward, hitting a new peak of 1.38 million terabytes in December 2025.

Digital economy fuels demand

Industry analysts link the surge to Nigeria’s expanding digital economy and the growing number of people seeking income opportunities online.

Lagos-based digital marketing specialist Idowu Ayodele said the rise in video-based content creation has significantly increased data demand.

“Many Nigerians are now monetising content across social media platforms. With strong incentives to earn online, people are willing to prioritise spending on data,” he said.

Telecom expert Adewale Adeoye also pointed to the popularity of short-form video platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels, where autoplay features consume large amounts of bandwidth. He added that online gaming, livestreaming, and remote work tools like Microsoft Teams and Google Meet have further boosted usage across different income groups.

Investment race intensifies

With higher data traffic comes pressure on network capacity. Operators have ramped up capital expenditure to prevent service deterioration as subscriber activity increases.

MTN disclosed that it invested N1 trillion in network expansion in 2025 more than double its capital expenditure in the previous year and plans additional investments in 2026.

Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Dinesh Balsingh, recently said the company is accelerating fibre rollouts across cities and states, including underserved communities. He noted that investments made over the past two years are already improving network performance and customer experience.

Tariff hike reshapes pricing landscape

On January 20, 2025, the NCC approved a 50 per cent increase in tariffs for calls, data, and SMS the first major pricing adjustment in over a decade.

Following the approval, the average cost of 1GB of data rose from N287.50 to N431.25, with advertised rates placing it closer to N587.50. SMS charges were also increased from N4.00 to N6.00 per message.

Operators had long argued that inflation, foreign exchange constraints, and rising energy costs were squeezing margins, making a tariff review necessary.

Even with higher prices, however, Nigerians’ appetite for connectivity shows little sign of slowing, reinforcing data’s central role in the country’s evolving digital economy.

Source: Nairametrics