A report by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that data usage in Nigeria surged by 202.08 per cent in three years.
According to the subscriber/network data reports of 2018, 2019, and 2020, data usage rose from 68,154.12 terabytes in 2018 to 125,149.86TB in 2019 and 205,880.4TB in 2020.
The total national and local outgoing voice calls were 121,935,927,123.15 in 2018. The calls grew to 149,584,465,210 in 2019 to 150,825,830,687.40.
The NCC said that in 2018, broadband penetration was 31.48 per cent while the total active 3G connections were 47,325,726 and 4G connections were 12,761,473 subscriptions.
In 2019, broadband penetration increased to 37.80 per cent, with the total active 3G connections growing to 50,441,608 while 4G grew to 21,712,216.
In 2020, broadband penetration stood at 45.02 per cent, with the total active 3G connection falling to 49,402,994, while 4G grew to 36,538,228.
In the period under review, GSM internet subscribers grew by 53,639,503 from 100,234,283 in January 2018 to 153,873,786 in December 2020.
MTN had the largest market share. In 2018, it had an internet subscriber base of 37,201,086, which grew to 59,594,891 in December 2020.
In 2018, MTN made N164.79bn from data, and N674.78bn from voice. Its data revenue rose from N218.69bn in 2019 to N332.37bn in 2020 while voice revenue increased from N723.92bn to N766.39bn.
According to the NCC, the increase in data usage in 2020 is attributable to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the pandemic disrupted normal activities and most functions had to pivot to virtual forms.
