With the high consumption of data, the Nigerian telecommunication company has gained as voice revenue swindles.
According to the information revealed by MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa, it has caught up with voice which used to be the major source of revenue for them.
Taking a look in January to September 2022, MTN Nigeria recorded a 4.4% growth in voice revenue to ₦753.7 billion, while data jumped to 49.1% to ₦549.6 billion.
Airtel who also shared it file saw a 26.7% growth in its revenue compared with an 11.9% increase in voice revenue in the first half.
Revealing further, the telecom operator said data per customer on its network reached 8.3 GB per month with 5.4 GB in the prior period. Its 4G usage contributing to 79.5% total usage.
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What Drives Data Revenue
The Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Kari Toriola said the increase in smartphone penetration in Nigeria is driving data consumption and revenue growth. He added that the revenue trend has been going in a direction where it will become MTN’s main revenue source.
“The contribution of voice to total revenue has been coming down while the contribution of data has been going up. So, we will see their convergence soon. We expect that it will overtake voice at some point soon.”
Speaking further, he said, ”Between the next 18 to 36 months, it will overtake voice in terms of revenue contribution. This will be driven by factors such as the increase in smartphone penetration and the uptake of 5G.”
What Telcos Are Saying On Revenue
Airtel explaining its data revenue growth, said,
”The enhanced 4G network and ample data network capacity to provide high-speed data have helped us to grow our data customer based.”
Speaking on the customer base, it said it increased by 20.3% with 45% of its customer base being 4G users. This is compared to 4.8 GB per month from 3.9GB in the prior period of Q2’23.
MTN on the other hand, pointed that the revenue growth was kept afloat by an aggressive 4G network expansion. This enhanced quality and capacity of its network to support rising data traffic.
It also pledged to continue driving the conversion of existing subscribers on the 3G network to 4G and drive smartphone penetration.
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