Nigeria’s telecommunications industry is reaping the rewards of significant investments in network infrastructure. MTN and Airtel, the country’s leading mobile network providers, have seen a substantial rise in service revenue thanks to these efforts.
Both companies poured billions of dollars into network upgrades between 2020 and 2023, focusing on expanding 4G and 5G coverage.The results are clear: data usage per customer has skyrocketed. Airtel, for instance, saw data revenue surge from N28.81 billion in 2019 to N151.15 billion in 2024, with average data usage per customer jumping to 6.3 GB per month.
MTN reports similar gains, with average data usage reaching 10.1 GB monthly and 4G network coverage exceeding 80% of the population. These investments not only boosted data usage but also subscriber numbers. MTN’s subscriber base grew to 81.7 million, while Airtel’s reached 63.3 million in March 2024.
Source: Business Day