Data revenue for the two leading telecommunications operators in the country, MTN and Airtel, rose to hit N123.8 billion between April and June this year. According to the financial records of the companies released recently, the period, which also marked the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria witnessed a surge in data usage by mobile subscribers.
The number of internet subscribers for both MTN and Airtel as of June end stood at 60.6 million and 37.5 million respectively, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). This showed that the two operators accounted for 98.1 million out of the total 143.7 million internet subscriptions in the country as of June this year.
Specifically, MTN Nigeria generated N79.9 billion from data subscriptions within the three-month, which reflected a 40.9 per cent growth on its data revenue year-on-year. MTN’s data revenue for the same period in 2019 stood at N56.7 billion.
Airtel Nigeria also recorded a 39.7 per cent year-on-year growth in data revenue as it generated N43.9 billion ($122 million) for the quarter ended June 2020. The telco’s data revenue for the same period last year was N31.6 billion ($88 million), according to the financial record released by the company’s parent body, Airtel Africa.
While Airtel managed a marginal growth in voice revenue for the quarter under review, MTN’s record shows a decline in voice income, reflecting a shift in telecoms consumer usage of voice calls to data. Airtel’s voice revenue for the period stood at N70.9 billion ($197 million), a 6.9 per cent growth from N66.6 billion ($185 million) recorded in the same period last year.
MTN, on the other hand, posted a 0.90 per cent decline in voice revenue over the same period. The telco’s income from voice stood at N174.6 billion, compared with N176.2 billion recorded in the same period last year.
The rapid increase in data users as opposed to voice may not also be unconnected with the proliferation of Over the Top Services (OTTs) such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Wechat, IMO, among others, through which subscribers can also make voice and video calls using their data subscriptions.
