721,522 terabytes of data consumed by Nigerians in January 2024 - NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission reports that the amount of data used surpassed 721,522 terabytes, the largest monthly consumption ever recorded.

According to information retrieved from the regulator’s website on Tuesday, this record exceeded the record set in December 2023, which was 713,200 terabytes.

The number of active Internet subscriptions reached 161,977,883, a significant rise over the 156,244,368 subscriptions that were registered in January of the previous year.

The number of Internet subscriptions is made up of various service providers, such as fixed Internet protocol (VoIP), Internet service providers (ISPs), mobile telcos, and VoIP.

There were 161,504,390 subscriptions from mobile devices, 213,876 subscriptions from wired and wireless Internet service providers, 21,437 fixed wire connections, and 238,180 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) connections.

The NCC reports that from December 2023 to January 2024, there was a 1.9 million decrease in Internet users, from 163.8 million to 161.9 million.

Still, 42.53 percent of people were online, and 92,195,937 million people had broadband subscriptions.

According to the data, the majority of connections are still 2G, although the percentage of 4G subscribers has been gradually increasing.

By network generation, 2G had 57.78% of the market in January 2024, followed by 3G with 9.36% in January and 9.80% in December 2023.

Subscriptions to 4G rose from 31.33% in December 2023 to 31.75% , suggesting that people are becoming more and more accustomed to fast internet.

In January 2024, 5G subscriptions made up 1.11 percent of all connections in Nigeria, an increase from 1.04 percent in December 2023.

Africa has the lowest percentage of 5G coverage worldwide, with only 6% of people in the continent having access to the network as of December 2023, according to data released by the International Telecommunications Union, a specialized agency of the United Nations.

Part of the reason for this discrepancy is the continued importance of earlier mobile technologies throughout the continent, including 2G and 3G networks.

The ITU research emphasized that while 2G and 3G networks are being phased out in industrialized countries, they are still in place in many African countries.

In African countries, especially those with poorer economic conditions, these antiquated technologies continue to play a crucial role in the telecom environment.

The ITU emphasized in its study that in nations such as Nigeria, 2G and 3G networks still hold a dominant position.

Particularly in areas without access to 4G and 5G networks, these technologies provide an affordable way to provide basic mobile services like text messaging and phone calls.