Data consumption in Nigeria surged to a record high in nine months according to Nigeria Communications Commission figures.
Latest data by the telecoms regulator indicated increasing reliance on the internet by individuals and corporates to power digital experience for businesses and pleasure.
Increased uptake of data calls, streaming, social media usage and gaming is largely responsible for this trend according to analysts.
Between January and September of 2024, Nigerians have consumed a total of 7.891 exabytes of data, the highest ever recorded in the country.
Different units of data usage or storage in telecommunications include Bit (0 or 1) Byte (1,000Bits), Kilobyte (1,000 Bytes), Megabyte or MB (1,000KB), Gigabyte or GB (1,000MB), Terabyte or TB (1,000GB), Petabyte or PB (1,000TB), and Exabyte or EB (1,000PB).
An exabyte is equal to one sextillion bytes which is a figure one one followed by 21 zeros.
A breakdown of the latest NCC figures shows that Nigerians consumed 721,522 terabytes in January, 694,804.54 terabytes in February and 753,388.77 terabytes in March, amounting to 2.17 exabytes in the first quarter of the year.
Data usage gained traction in Q2 2024 as more users spent time online relying on data packages on the networks of various operators.
Through their various gadgets, they consumed 766,708.12 terabytes in April, 771,993.56 terabytes in May and 798,583.81 terabytes in June. This amounted to 2.337 exabytes in the quarter.
In Q3 2024, operators supplied Nigerians with 829,584.47 terabytes, 853,954.05 terabytes and 850,249.09 terabytes in July, August and September respectively totaling 2.533 exabytes volume of data consumption in the quarter.
In the period under review, the number of internet users in the country oscillated between 131.44 million as the least active internet subscribers on the networks of the operators and 164.164.56 million as the highest.
Speaking recently at a forum in Abuja, the executive vice chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, said that Nigeria’s daily data usage had surged significantly, with a 39 percent increase from last year, averaging 336 gigabytes per second.
He cited a recent global report on data usage indicating that there are now over five billion internet users, with Nigeria alone accounting for 132 million connections.
According to him, Nigerians spend an average of 4 hours and 20 minutes on social media daily, far above the global average, underscoring how deeply embedded digital interaction is in our lives.
He said, “Over the past two decades, the telecommunications landscape in Nigeria has transformed from basic voice services to high-speed data that connects, informs, and powers innovations.
“With the rollout of 3G, 4G, and now 5G, we’ve seen Nigerians adopting social media, e-commerce, online banking, and more. The introduction of 3G networks in the mid-2000s marked the beginning of this shift, enabling basic browsing and email and the leap to 4G.”
He noted Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology brought faster speeds, enabling video streaming, online gaming, and a myriad of digital activities.
“Now, with 5G promising even faster speeds and lower latency, new frontiers are opening for innovations such as smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things, driving further demand for data.”
NCC data showed that as of September 2024, internet connection mix in Nigeria is mostly powered by 4G networks which account for 44.9 percent of connections followed by 3G (9.32 percent), 2G (3.53 percent) and 5G (2.19 percent.
