Nigeria’s data consumption hits record 4 million terabytes in a quarter

For the first time, Nigerians consumed more than 4 billion gigabytes of data in 90 days, according to the latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

In the first three months of 2026, the country recorded 4.06 million terabytes of data, the highest level since the NCC began tracking the data, and a clear sign of how quickly Nigerians are going online. A terabyte is equal to about 1,000 gigabytes; 406 million terabytes brings the number of data consumed to above 4 billion gigabytes. 

The new record surpasses the previous high of 3.86 million terabytes recorded in the last quarter of 2025. It also shows steady growth, even though the pace has slowed slightly after the spike typically seen during the festive season at the end of the year.

March 2026 played a major role in pushing the numbers higher. It was the busiest month ever, with 1.42 million terabytes of data consumed. 

This marked a strong recovery from February, when usage dipped. On average, Nigerians used about 45,896 terabytes of data every day in March, overtaking February 2026’s 45,002 TB/day.

Behind this surge is a massive expansion of the country’s Internet infrastructure. Moving 4 million terabytes of data requires a network of undersea cables, fibre optic lines across the country, and more than 20,000 telecom towers working at high capacity.

Telecom operators have significantly increased investment. MTN Nigeria spent about ₦1 trillion ($726.97 million) on network upgrades last year, while Airtel committed around $500 million and Globacom expanded its infrastructure footprint. The scale of growth has been rapid. In early 2023, Nigeria’s monthly data usage stood at about 517,000 terabytes. By 2026, that figure has more than doubled, highlighting how quickly both demand and capacity have expanded.

Another key factor is the shift to faster Internet technologies. As of March 2026, 4G networks account for 53.76% of all connections in Nigeria. Older networks like 2G and 3G simply cannot handle this level of data traffic. 

Meanwhile, 5G, though still in its early stages at 4.2% penetration, is helping to carry heavy data loads in major cities like Lagos and Abuja, especially for high-definition streaming and cloud-based services.

This shift is reflected in rising demand for fixed wireless and fibre services, driven by telecom operators expanding into home Internet. The fixed Internet subscriptions saw a 10.02% jump in March, with MTN Nigeria dominating the market with 80.7% of total subscriptions.