Nigeria’s mobile internet speeds have more than doubled over the past two years, driven largely by wider adoption of 4G networks, even as surging data consumption places growing strain on telecom infrastructure, industry reports showed.
Data from network analytics firm nPerf showed that average mobile download speeds in Nigeria rose to 14.7 megabits per second by the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 7.1 Mbps in the first quarter of 2023. Upload speeds increased more sharply, more than quadrupling to 7.28 Mbps from 1.77 Mbps over the same period.
The performance gains come against a backdrop of rapid growth in mobile data usage. Figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed that data volumes exchanged on mobile networks rose by 140 percent between January 2023 and November 2025, increasing from about 518,000 terabits to over 1.23 million terabits.
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The improvements reflect heavy reliance on 4G technology as operators race to meet rising demand from digital services, including streaming, mobile banking and remote work.
More than half of Nigeria’s 177 million active telephone users are now on 4G networks, even as nPerf said tests conducted on 4G across MTN, Airtel and Globacom accounted for 64 percent of measurements in 2025, up from 49 percent in 2022.
Operators have accelerated investments in network upgrades and coverage expansion, including infrastructure-sharing partnerships such as the rural connectivity collaboration between MTN and Airtel.
“Higher mobile speeds open the door to new use cases such as video conferencing, online financial transactions and smoother video streaming,” nPerf said in its report.
However, it added that streaming performance has not improved at the same pace as headline speeds, pointing to the need for further network densification, stronger interconnections and more local content caching, including additional YouTube cache servers in Nigeria.
Separate analysis by U.S.-based internet measurement firm Ookla showed that Nigeria’s digital experience is still shaped largely by 4G consistency, with 2G and 3G networks persisting in many rural areas. While 5G is expanding in major cities, its impact remains limited nationwide.
Ookla said urban centres such as Lagos and Abuja recorded download speeds about 22 percent faster than rural areas, averaging 35.52 Mbps compared with 27.67 Mbps. Page load times also varied sharply by technology, with 5G delivering loads in two to three seconds, compared with more than 10 seconds on 2G and 3G.
The firm ranked MTN as the fastest network for browsing, with a score of 65.9, followed by T2 at 50, while video streaming performance was more evenly distributed among MTN, T2, Airtel and Globacom, particularly in urban areas.
Despite overall gains, Ookla said network stability, including latency and jitter, remains critical for applications such as video calls and online gaming, urging operators to prioritise quality alongside speed.
Nigeria’s telecom regulator has also pressed operators to improve service reliability. Aminu Maida, the executive vice chairman of the NCC, called for better voice quality, fewer service disruptions and faster fault resolution in 2026.
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He urged simpler and more transparent tariffs, improved customer complaint handling, wider coverage in underserved communities and prompt refunds for failed recharges, saying consumers must enjoy full value for their money.
As data demand continues to rise, analysts say Nigeria’s telecom sector faces mounting pressure to close persistent urban–rural gaps while sustaining performance gains driven by 4G, even as the transition to 5G gathers pace.
