By Gabriel Ameh
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that Nigerians consumed more than 1.42 million terabytes of data in March 2026, reflecting the country’s growing dependence on digital technology and internet-based services.
Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Aminu Maida, disclosed this during the 2026 Workshop for Judges on Legal Issues in Telecommunications held in Lagos.
Maida, represented by the Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, said the figure marks a significant increase compared to the 995,000 terabytes recorded in March 2025.
According to him, the latest data usage translates to an average of about 45,800 terabytes consumed daily by Nigerians.
He explained that the daily consumption level is equivalent to Nigerians streaming more than 15 million hours of high-definition video every day.
By comparison, the average daily data usage in March 2025 stood at approximately 32,100 terabytes, representing around 10.7 million hours of HD video streaming daily.
Maida noted that Nigerians now consume about 4.6 million additional hours of HD video daily compared to the same period last year.
The NCC boss attributed the increase in internet usage to the growing adoption of digital payments, e-commerce, online learning, entertainment streaming, remote work and other internet-enabled activities.
He also linked the growth to improved broadband penetration, which rose from 47.7 percent in 2025 to 54.3 percent in 2026.
According to him, telecom operators invested over $1 billion in network expansion in 2025, deploying thousands of additional telecom sites across the country to improve connectivity and service delivery.
Maida stressed that the telecommunications sector remains a major driver of economic growth, innovation and social inclusion in Nigeria.
However, he warned that the rapid digital expansion also comes with challenges such as cybercrime, online fraud, infrastructure vandalism and growing threats to online safety.
He called for stronger collaboration among regulators, the judiciary, security agencies and industry stakeholders to safeguard telecommunications infrastructure and support Nigeria’s digital transformation efforts.
