Nigerians ate up 11.94 million terabytes of web records within the first 8 months of 2026, round 90% of the quantity recorded right through 2025, pointing to rising call for via extra in depth use of web products and services.
In August on my own, intake reached 1.76 million terabytes, in step with the Nigerian Communications Fee’s newest industry statistics.
The surge in internet data intake intensifies power on Nigeria’s telecom operators to amplify community capability as customers devour extra records via current and new connections. Operators will have to subsequently accommodate emerging site visitors whilst keeping up provider high quality.
A part of the rise comes from further web connections. Osita Odafi, a telecom business skilled, mentioned NCC figures confirmed roughly 800,000 new web subscriptions in August on my own, increasing the pool of connections producing records site visitors.
However new subscriptions are simplest a part of the reason. Current customers also are the usage of extra data-intensive products and services, he mentioned, specifically video platforms comparable to YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels and Netflix. Prime-definition streaming and autoplay can additional building up intake.
“The vital query is now not simply what number of Nigerians are connecting to the web, however how intensively they’re the usage of it,” Odafi informed TechCabal.
He additionally pointed to on-line banking, virtual bills, cloud products and services, far off paintings equipment, on-line schooling, and AI packages as drivers of call for. His evaluate identifies possible drivers moderately than a measured breakdown of the way a lot site visitors each and every task generated.
The rising adoption of 4G and 5G may be supporting extra data-intensive actions. 4G’s percentage of cell subscriptions rose from 54.31% in July to 54.77% in August, whilst 5G larger from 4.74% to 4.92%. In combination, the applied sciences accounted for about 60% of cell subscriptions.
Per thirty days intake was once lowest in February, at 1.26 million terabytes, ahead of emerging to at least one.4 million in March and crossing 1.5 million in June. By means of August, it had reached 1.76 million terabytes.
Quicker connections could make streaming, cloud packages and different hard products and services more straightforward to make use of. Their emerging subscription percentage does now not, alternatively, determine how a lot of the rise in intake got here from both generation.
Nigeria recorded 197.42 million telecommunications subscriptions in August, an building up of roughly 2.31 million, or 1.18%, from July. Knowledge intake subsequently grew sooner than overall telecommunications subscriptions over the month.
The 2 signs measure various things. Telecommunications subscriptions come with connections used for voice and different products and services, whilst records intake measures the quantity of web site visitors. Subscription figures additionally depend connections, now not distinctive people.
The extra related comparability is with web subscriptions, together with the roughly 800,000 further connections in August. Even then, figuring out intake in step with connection will require a constant comparability of web subscription totals and site visitors through the years.
MTN recorded 84.56 million web subscriptions in August, adopted through Airtel with 56.94 million and Globacom with 15.76 million. MTN and Airtel accounted for many subscriptions a number of the 3 networks.
For operators, sustained expansion in intake way extra site visitors to house, whether or not it comes from further connections or heavier use of current ones.
“Persisted funding in fibre infrastructure, community capability and spectrum will likely be necessary to accommodating this expansion whilst keeping up provider high quality,” Odafi mentioned.
He additionally recognized zero-rated get entry to to tutorial platforms, an initiative the NCC introduced on October 1, as a possible supply of additional call for. Underneath the initiative, eligible customers are certified to obtain as much as 100 megabytes of unfastened day by day records allowance to get entry to designated tutorial platforms.
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