Data consumption falls as Nigeria’s internet subscribers drops to 141.9m

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the country’s internet subscribers dropped to 141.98 million in April – down from 142.16 million recorded in January 2025.

This means the country’s internet subscribers reduced by 0.12 percent or 176,202 within three months.

In its latest industry statistics published on its website, the commission said out of the figure, mobile (GSM) accounted for 141.47 million subscribers, leaving the remaining subscribers under fixed wired and VoIP.

Analysis of the data showed that only two telecommunications companies — MTN Nigeria and Airtel — recorded an increase in internet subscriptions, while Globacom and 9mobile recorded a decline in the period under review.

According to the regulator, MTN’s internet subscribers rose by 2.24 million to 75.95 million in April — up from 73.7 million in January 2025.

The report said Airtel’s subscription rose from 48.49 million in January to 48.93 million in April, representing an increase of 445,854.

On the contrary, Globacom’s internet subscribers decreased from 17.39 million in January to 14.83 million in April — down by 2.55 million.

According to the commission, 9Mobile lost 319,996 subscribers in the period examined. The telco’s record moved from 2.06 million subscribers in January to 1.74 million in April.

The NCC also reported an increase in broadband penetration from 45.61 percent in January to 48.15 percent in April.

Broadband penetration is the proportion or percentage of a population with access to high-speed internet.

The NCC industry statistics also showed that there were 172.94 million subscribers for telephony services in April, an increase of 8 million compared to the 169.31 million recorded in January.

‘DATA CONSUMPTION DECREASED’

The regulator further said data consumption in Nigeria declined by 17,647 terabytes between January and April.

The decline followed the recent implementation of tariffs hike by telecommunications companies.

On January 20, the NCC announced that telecom operators could increase their tariffs up to 50 percent.

In its latest industry data, the commission said total internet usage dropped from 1,000,930.6 terabytes in January to 983,283.43 terabytes in April, representing a 1.76 percent decrease over the three-month period.

In terms of generation, the NCC also said 5G and 4G recorded 2.81 percent and 49.2 percent usage, respectively, while 3G was 8.25 percent.