MTN, Airtel rake N3.6 trillion from data as Nigerians' internet usage surges

Nigeria's leading telecom operators MTN and Airtel generated a combined N3.6 trillion from data revenue in 2025, marking a significant shift where data now dominates their income streams. Despite a 50% tariff increase implemented last year, data consumption continued to rise steadily, with Nigerians using 1.38 million terabytes of data in December 2025 alone—a new monthly record. MTN reported N2.8 trillion in data revenue (74.5% growth), while Airtel earned N838.6 billion (67.4% growth). Both companies cited increased usage per subscriber (MTN: 13.1GB/month; Airtel: 10.7GB/month) and smartphone penetration growth (54.1%) as key drivers. Industry experts attribute the surge to Nigeria's expanding digital economy, with social media monetization and short-form video platforms like TikTok driving demand. To support this growth, MTN invested N1 trillion in network capacity, while Airtel is expanding fiber infrastructure nationwide. The NCC's data confirms Nigerians' persistent appetite for internet usage despite higher costs.

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2026/03/04/mtn-airtel-rake-in-n3-6trn-from-data-consumption-boom-in-2025/