Nigeria Crosses 7.8 Exabytes Data Consumption in 9 Months

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that data consumption in Nigeria has reached an all-time high in nine months.

Latest data by the telecoms regulator indicated increasing reliance on the internet by individuals and corporates alike to power digital experience for businesses and pleasure.

Between January and September of 2024, Nigerians have consumed a total of 7.891 exabytes volume 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).

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% increase from last year, averaging 336 gigabytes per second.

Dr. Aminu Maida, The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC

He cited a recent global report on data usage indicating that there are now over 5 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.”

Meanwhile, checks by BUSINESS METRICS showed that as of September 2024, internet connection mix in Nigeria is powered by 3.53% second generation (2G), 9.32% third generation (3G), 44.96% fourth generation and 2.19% fifth generation (5G) technologies.