MTN Nigeria Data Revenue Rises by 51.2% to N332.37 Billion in 2020

…as data traffic rose by 126.5%

MTN Nigeria has announced its telecommunications company generated N332.37 billion revenue from data in the year 2020.

The telco, in its audited results for the financial year ended 31 December 2020 made available to Business Remarks noted that its data revenue increased by 51.2% in 2020.

While attributing the growth to the surge in data usage and traffic prompted by the COVID-19 lockdowns, MTN Nigeria made an increase of N112.97 billion in its data revenue as against N219.4 billion generated for the year 2019.

The telecommunications firm said data revenue maintained the positive momentum from Q2 2020, as the performance in data was led by a combination of increased subscribers, usage (MB per user) and ultimately traffic, supported by increased network capacity and 4G penetration.

Furthermore, the telco data traffic rose by 126.5% and average usage by 64.0%.

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According to the organisation, approximately 8.2 million new smartphones were added to the network, bringing smartphone penetration to 45.9% of its base, up from 41.9% in 2019.

MTN Nigeria mobile subscribers increased by 12.2 million to 76.5 million, while active data users increased by 7.4 million to 32.6 million.

However, revenue generated from SMS dropped by N1.17 billion to N12.33 billion in 2020 as against N13.5 billion made in 2019, revealing the adoption of over-the-top-top (OTT) services such as WhatsApp and Facebook messaging.

To accommodate these growths, MTN disclosed enhancing its enhance service quality.

“We focused on capacity upgrades and 4G population coverage, while expanding our investments in rural connectivity. Our 4G network now covers 60.1% of the population, up from 43.8% in 2019”, MTN Nigeria CEO, Ferdi Moolman commented.

Moolman added, “2020 was a challenging year for all. The unprecedented disruption that the COVID-19 pandemic caused the businesses and people we serve, challenged us in new and demanding ways. The impact continues to evolve. Adoption of our data and digital services accelerated as lockdowns and gathering restrictions were imposed, and work-from-home became the norm for many.”