MTN, Airtel, others set for bumper harvest as calls, data usage surge

Despite the economic downturn and high inflation that has seen people cut their budgets for other essential festive period needs like travel and clothing, telecommunications services, especially data, seem to be on the priority list of many Nigerians.

MTN, Airtel, Globacom, 9mobile, and several internet service providers, are set to rake in more revenue this Christmas season as Nigerians increase the volume of calls and data usage.

For many who will not be able to travel due to the high cost of transportation, video calls have become a veritable means to connect with loved ones.

Based on the past financial records of MTN and Airtel, two of the leading telcos in the country, increased subscriber spending in December has always positively impacted their Q4 revenue over the years.

Aside from an increase in calls to wish family and friends well, more data is usually consumed around this period by people sharing messages and videos via different platforms in commemoration of the season.

As of August 2023, data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) already indicated a surge in data consumption by Nigerians. This fact was conspicuously reflected in MTN and Airtel’s Q3 2023 financial results.

Specifically, MTN, the largest telecom operator in Nigeria by subscriber number recorded N279.5 billion as data revenue between July and September this year.

This represents 38.9% compared with the N201.1 billion it recorded in the same period last year.  According to Airtel Africa’s financial result for the quarter ended September 2023, Airtel Nigeria earned N123.7 billion ($157 million) from data subscriptions. This also represents a 29.3% growth in data revenue for the company.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of MTN, Karl Toriola, the increase in data usage was supported by the revamp of MTN data bundle offerings, an increase in the penetration of smartphones, and investments in its network to expand coverage and capacity and enhance customer experience.

“Our 4G network now covers 80.5% of the population, up from 79.1% in December 2022. Data usage (GB per user) grew by 29.1% to 8.6GB, and the number of smartphones on our network increased by 7.6%, bringing smartphone penetration to 53.4%, up 1. Consequently, we recorded a 46.3% growth in data traffic, with the 4G network accounting for 83.7% of the total traffic,” Toriola stated.

On his part, the CEO of Airtel Africa, Segun Ogunsanya, also noted that Airtel Nigeria recorded a significant increase in data consumption during the review period.

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“Airtel Nigeria’s data revenue grew by 29.3% in constant currency, driven by data customer base growth of 17.4% and data Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) growth of 12.3%. Data usage per customer increased by 23.8% to 5.9GB per month (from 4.8GB in the prior period).

“Our continued 4G network rollout has resulted in nearly 100% of all our sites delivering 4G services. Furthermore, 233 5G sites are now operational. For the Q2’24 period, 4G customers accounted for 51.1% of our total data customer base and contributed to 85.3% of total data usage. Q2’24 4G data usage per customer reached 11.7 GB per month, an increase of 41.3% (from 8.3 GB per customer per month in Q2’23),” he said.

This Christmas period, data consumption is expected to spike across all networks. Industry experts noted that the Christmas season gives subscribers more time to explore social media and watch videos that consume their data. And by doing this, many spend more on data than they usually do, without even knowing it.

According to the President of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, there are many factors pushing telecom subscribers to spend more on calls and data every December.

While noting that Nigerians like to talk a lot and felicitate with people over the phone, he said the shift to WhatsApp calls and other app-based calls as opposed to regular phone calls is pushing consumption more towards data.

He, however, noted that the increased number of calls and messages during the Christmas period often leads to poor quality of service.