LAGOS, Nigeria — MTN Nigeria has crossed 100 million subscribers after investing ₦620.5 billion (approximately $468 million) in its network during the first half of 2026, as data consumption and internet speeds continued to rise across the country.
The company’s half-year financial figures show that average monthly data consumption reached 14.8 gigabytes per user, while independent measurements published by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) put median mobile download speeds at about 20 megabits per second by mid-year, up from 16.5 Mbps at the beginning of 2026.
Okay News reports that MTN Nigeria has invested about ₦1.62 trillion (approximately $1.22 billion) in network infrastructure since January 2025, covering upgrades across roughly 66,000 sites, fibre expansion, spectrum deployment and the extension of its 5G network.
The operator’s 5G footprint has now reached 730 sites across 27 states, as it continues to expand higher-capacity coverage beyond major urban centres.
The spending has taken place during a period of elevated operating costs for telecommunications companies in Nigeria.
Diesel prices have risen sharply compared with 2023, while naira depreciation has increased the cost of imported equipment and other foreign currency obligations.
Mobile tariffs were also adjusted upward by as much as 50 percent in January 2026, the first major industry-wide review in nearly a decade.
Despite the higher tariffs, subscriber numbers and data consumption continued to grow.
Average monthly data usage per customer increased by 15.2 percent year on year to 14.8GB, while smartphone penetration on the Nigerian network reached 66.4 percent.
The figures indicate that customers are consuming more data as smartphone ownership expands and 4G and 5G coverage reaches additional parts of the country.
MTN Nigeria recorded ₦1.699 trillion (approximately $1.28 billion) in data revenue during the first half of the year, representing a 38.4 percent increase from the corresponding period.
The revenue was generated from 55.7 million active data users.
Alongside network expansion, MTN is also working to reduce its dependence on diesel, one of the largest operating costs associated with powering telecommunications infrastructure in Nigeria.
Diesel accounted for 58.11 percent of the company’s energy mix in 2025, while gas supplied through independent power producers accounted for 23.63 percent.
Electricity from the national grid represented 18.04 percent, while renewable energy contributed just 0.05 percent.
The company has since begun increasing renewable energy capacity.
In June 2026, MTN Nigeria signed its first utility-scale solar agreement under the First WATT partnership, securing 34 megawatts of solar capacity across eight of its largest facilities.
The investment is expected to reduce reliance on diesel as more renewable generation is integrated into the company’s power supply.
Network expansion has also continued despite repeated damage to telecommunications infrastructure.
Yahaya Ibrahim, Chief Technology Officer of MTN Nigeria, disclosed in August that the network experiences approximately 450 incidents of vandalism daily, including fibre cuts and attacks on tower infrastructure.
Such incidents can require emergency repairs or the rebuilding of affected facilities and remain a major operational challenge for telecommunications operators.
Despite those disruptions, the NCC’s network measurements showed an improvement in median download speeds during the first half of the year.
The operator has continued extending fibre infrastructure and adding network capacity as the number of subscribers and volume of data traffic increase.
MTN Nigeria is expected to continue deploying capital into network expansion during the second half of 2026 and into 2027, with additional 5G sites planned beyond its current 27-state footprint.
Further investment is also expected in fibre routes serving areas that have historically had limited access to high-capacity broadband infrastructure.
For subscribers, the effect of those investments will be measured through network availability, internet speeds and the ability to access reliable connectivity as data consumption continues to increase.
