Nigerians’ Data Usage Reaches 1.04 Million Terabytes in May, Even as Internet Users Decrease
Data usage among Nigerian telecom subscribers surged to 1.04 million terabytes in May 2025, despite a decrease in the country’s internet subscriptions.
The latest figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) indicate that this data consumption is the highest monthly total recorded since January 2023, when the NCC began tracking this information.
In April, data consumption was recorded at 983,283 terabytes, while the closest figure to May’s total was 1 million terabytes in January 2025.
Decline in Internet Subscriptions
At the same time, telecom operators are experiencing a drop in the number of active internet subscriptions as Nigerians adapt to a recent 50% price increase implemented by all telecom providers in the country.
– Total internet subscriptions across mobile, fixed, wired, ISP, and VoIP networks fell to 141.5 million, down from 141.9 million in April.
– Mobile network operators (MNOs) continue to dominate the internet service market, but they accounted for most of the subscription losses this month.
– According to NCC data, subscriptions for MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile decreased from 141.4 million in April to 141 million in May.
Decrease in Active Mobile Subscriptions
The total number of active subscriptions across the four mobile networks also saw a slight decline in May, dropping from 172.6 million to 172.4 million.
This decrease was primarily due to two operators: MTN and 9mobile. Although MTN remains the largest operator by subscriber count, it lost 258,313 active subscriptions, bringing its total down to 90.2 million from 90.5 million in April.
– 9mobile, the fourth-largest operator, which recently signed a significant agreement to utilize MTN’s infrastructure, lost 291,214 subscriptions, reducing its total to 2.6 million from 2.9 million in April.- In contrast, Airtel gained 342,597 subscriptions, increasing its total to 58.9 million from 58.5 million in April. Globacom’s total remained unchanged at 20.6 million.
– Despite the losses in May, MTN held 52.33% of the mobile market share in Nigeria, while Airtel maintained second place with 34.17%. Globacom’s market share was 11.96%, and 9mobile accounted for just 1.55%.
Additionally, the slight decline in active connections has led to a decrease in the country’s teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants. Teledensity fell to 79.65% from 79.78% in April.
According to the NCC, this teledensity figure is based on a population estimate of 216 million.
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