Nigerians' data consumption dropped to 1.26 million terabytes in February, marking a decline of 9.1% from January's 1.38 million terabytes. However, the average daily usage rose by 0.7% to 45,000 terabytes, indicating a growing demand for digital services.
The Nigerian Communications Commission released the latest industry data, revealing that Nigerians consumed an average of 45,000 terabytes of Internet data per day in February. This figure is slightly higher than January's average of 44,694.71 terabytes per day.
According to telecom industry expert Osita Odafi, the difference in data consumption between January and February can be attributed to the "calendar effect." January has 31 days, while February typically has 28 days (or 29 in a leap year), which affects total monthly figures.
MTN Nigeria and Airtel were the biggest beneficiaries of this growth, with MTN adding over 1.1 million Internet subscribers in February and Airtel gaining 507,596 subscribers.
When Osita Odafi says the calendar effect is behind the drop in data consumption, that means the real story is about the intensifying demand for digital services. The fact that daily data usage rose by 0.7% despite a shorter month signals a deeper shift in Nigeria's digital economy, with data-intensive services like streaming, fintech, and social media driving this growth. This trend highlights the need for sustained investment in network capacity and digital infrastructure to keep pace with demand.
