Nigeria's 5G revolution: Telcos connect 3.4 million subscribers as global tally reaches 1.5b

Telecommunications operators in Nigeria with Fifth-Generation (5G) network licenses have connected approximately 3.4 million Nigerians to 5G networks within two years of the service’s commercial launch.

According to the latest subscription statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Monday, 5G penetration reached 2.1 percent by the end of the last quarter. In March, when NCC last published industry data, 5G penetration was at 1.24 percent.

The data indicates that 5G usage climbed as follows: 1.31 percent in April, 1.73 percent in May, 1.81 percent in June, 1.85 percent in July, 2.12 percent in August, and finally 2.19 percent by the end of the last quarter.

The NCC data also revealed that the number of telecommunications subscriptions dropped from 219.3 million in March to 154.9 million—a decrease of 30 percent—due to the NIN-SIM exercise.

This means that, as of now, approximately 3,372,600 subscribers out of the 154.9 million are currently using the 5G network in Nigeria.

Currently, three operators hold 5G licenses: MTN, Mafab Communications, and Airtel. MTN and Airtel appear to be expanding their services effectively, reaching around 30 cities across the country, while there has been little noticeable progress from Mafab at this time.

Further analysis of the NCC data shows that 4G has overtaken 2G as the dominant technology in the country, with a share of 44.96 percent. 2G follows closely with 43.53 percent, while 3G accounts for 9.32 percent.

Meanwhile, in terms of data consumption, Nigerians as of last quarter had consumed 850,249.09 terabytes. As of March, data consumption was 753,388.77 terabytes. It moved to 766,708.12 terabytes in April; 771,993.56 terabytes in May; 798,583.81 terabytes in June; 829,584.47 terabytes in July; 853,954.05 terabytes in August and 850,249.09 terabytes in September.

GSMA in its report revealed that the number of 5G connections globally surpassed 1.5 billion at the end of 2023, making it the fastest-growing mobile broadband technology to date.

The industry body noted that 5G only took four years to reach this number, while 3G took 10 years to reach the same milestone and more than five years for 4G.

“Having surpassed 2G and 3G in terms of number of connections in 2023, it is expected to become the dominant global technology by the end of the decade. The number of connections on 2G and 3G networks will continue to decline in the coming years as users migrate to 4G and 5G,” said the industry body.

GSMA, however, noted that while 5G deployments are starting to take off in many low-middle-income countries (LMICs), they are unlikely to become the predominant mobile technology in many countries even by 2030.