This digital explosion in Nigeria is triggered in periods like Easter. What used to be a calm religious period has become a peak window for streaming, mobile engagement and digital spending.

Lately, Easter has gone beyond being observed in churches to being consumed across screens.

Pews to platforms

There is still strong church attendance, which has not changed. What has changed is what happens before and after.

Phones are now part of the experience.

Nigeria has over 151 million internet subscribers, almost entirely driven by mobile access. This means Easter is no longer a shared schedule but a personalised, on-demand experience.

The growth of the “digital pulpit”

One of the most obvious changes this year is what I would call the digital pulpit.

Worship is no more tied to location, it moves with the user.

Podcasts, livestreams and recorded sermons are now done alongside traditional services. In many cases, they extend them. A message heard on Sunday is replayed on Monday morning traffic.

The data supports it:

• Faith-based podcast listening is steeply increasing
• More than 90% of streams happen on mobile devices

This is structured engagement not casual listening. Voices like Emmanuel Iren and Femi Lazarus are building large digital audiences. Their content blends theology with production quality, clear audio, clipped messages, and distribution across platforms.

The growth stresses that spiritual influence is longer limited to physical reach because digital distribution now defines it.

What Nigerians are watching: streaming takes over

Easter viewing has changed completely.

It used to be scheduled television, a few biblical films, and fixed times. Now it is on-demand.

• Church services stream live on YouTube
• Films are watched on mobile screens
• Content is replayed, clipped, and shared

At the same time, Nollywood is adjusting.

New titles like Avante (released April 3) are entering a congested digital space, while Behind the Scenes still tops as the highest-grossing Nollywood title into 2026.

Looking at distribution, platforms such as Africa Magic and YouTube are competing for attention, especially for indigenous content. Yoruba and Igbo language productions have seen around 87% growth in viewership and listening over the past year.

Easter is now a competition for attention, not just a moment of reflection.

The gospel streaming explosion

Music is still major during Easter, but the format has changed. Streaming platforms now carry most of the weight.

Data from Spotify shows that gospel and praise streams have grown by over 5,000% since 2021, ascertaining structural growth.

This week, playlists are doing the work once handled by choirs and CDs.

Artists like:

• Nathaniel Bassey
• Moses Bliss
• Dunsin Oyekan

are topping streams.

Dunsin Oyekan’s “Naija Worship” playlist takeover in early April reflects a wider shift. Curation has become as important as creation.

Worship is now on-demand, replayable, and algorithm-driven.

Reading, but differently

Reading has not disappeared, it has just changed shape.

Long books have given way to:

• Daily devotionals
• Short scripture posts
• Mobile-first reading

Apps like YouVersion Bible App are highly used here.

WhatsApp broadcasts and social media captions now carry a large share of spiritual content. It is quick, shareable and constant.

Reflection has been compressed into digital moments.

Gaming: the competitor

There is another aspect to Easter that isn’t usually unnoticed, and that’s gaming.

Holidays create downtime. Downtime drives play.

Titles like:

• Call of Duty: Mobile
• EA Sports FC Mobile

compete directly with films, sermons and music for attention.

Attention is limited.

Even during religious periods, platforms are competing for the same hours.

Social media: where Easter is performed

Easter now lives online.

• Instagram carries fashion and lifestyle
• TikTok spreads choir clips and sermon highlights
• WhatsApp distributes devotionals

What used to be private is now shared.

Easter is no longer just experienced, it is performed.

The economics: follow the data

Behind all this activity is money.

Nigeria’s telecom sector has changed. Data, not voice, now drives revenue growth.

Monthly internet spending has surged, with Nigerians spending an estimated ₦721 billion on data in a single month in 2025.

The beneficiaries are:

• MTN Nigeria
• Airtel Nigeria
• Streaming platforms
• Content creators

There is also a behavioural change.

People are now gifting:

• Data bundles
• Subscriptions
• Digital access

instead of physical items.

Easter consumption can now be measured in gigabytes.

A change driven by pressure

The high prices have made travel and large gatherings more expensive. Many people are staying in, and when they stay in, they go online.

Digital becomes the substitute.

It is cheaper, flexible and fits the moment.

The contradiction

There is a tension at the centre of all this.

Faith encourages stillness.
Technology encourages engagement.

The same platforms that deliver sermons and worship are designed to keep users scrolling, watching and listening.

That tension is not going away.

The change is permanent

Easter itself has not changed, the meaning is the same. But the way Nigerians experience it is what has changed.

Looking at podcasts, playlists, livestreams and even data bundles, we see what Easter is.

It is mobile.
It is personalised.
It is monetised.

And most of all, it is measured in data, in streams, and in time spent on screen.

Telecommunications has once again proven itself to be one of Nigeria’s most resilient and strategic sectors. Even in the face of economic headwinds, it continued to underpin financial services, commerce, education, healthcare, security, and government operations.

As we look ahead, the central question is no longer whether the sector can withstand pressure, but how quickly it can scale to meet Nigeria’s growing digital ambitions.

2025: A Year of Stabilisation, Industry Resilience, and Continued Investment

The operating environment in 2025 was far from easy. Telecom operators, tower companies, fibre infrastructure providers, internet service providers, and data-centre operators all had to contend with rising energy costs, foreign exchange volatility, equipment import pressures, Right-of-Way challenges, and persistent infrastructure risks.

Yet, the most important story of 2025 is that the industry did not retreat. Instead, telecom companies across the value chain continued to:

• Expand and densify their networks in high-demand corridors
• Upgrade site power solutions, accelerating the transition to solar and hybrid energy systems to improve uptime and reduce diesel dependency
• Invest in backbone, metro, and access fibre to support rising data demand
• Optimise networks and maintain service availability despite cost pressures

According to data published by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria crossed a major milestone in 2025, with broadband penetration exceeding 50 percent.

This achievement reflects sustained growth in mobile broadband, fixed wireless access, and fibre-backed connectivity across the country.

Data consumption also reached record highs during the year, underscoring how deeply digital services have become embedded in everyday Nigerian life.

From digital payments and online commerce to streaming, remote work, and cloud services, demand for connectivity continued to rise steadily.

This progress is significant because it reinforces a fundamental truth: industry investment, not policy alone, delivered the measurable gains of 2025.

Regulatory and Policy Stewardship: Government’s Role in Market Stability and Long-Term Direction

Beyond physical infrastructure and private-sector investment, government stewardship through both regulation and policy was a critical pillar of sector performance in 2025.

On the regulatory front, the Nigerian Communications Commission played a steadying and confidence-building role throughout the year.

At a time of economic uncertainty, the Commission’s actions helped preserve stability and predictability across the industry. Key areas of focus included:

• Maintaining transparent industry reporting and broadband performance monitoring, which allowed operators and investors to track progress and plan effectively
• Enforcing Quality of Service (QoS) standards to protect consumers and sustain trust in telecom services
• Encouraging infrastructure sharing and colocation, reducing duplication of assets, and easing capital strain on operators
• Managing spectrum efficiency and refarming, ensuring that available spectrum supported rising data demand
• Engaging operators and security agencies on the protection of telecom assets as Critical National Infrastructure

This consistency in regulatory oversight was essential in sustaining investor confidence. In capital-intensive sectors like telecommunications, regulatory certainty often determines whether long-term projects proceed or stall.

Complementing regulatory stability, policy leadership, and strategic direction were provided by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, under the leadership of the Honorable Minister ‘Bosun Tijani.

During 2025, several government-led initiatives were announced or advanced to strengthen Nigeria’s long-term digital foundations, including:

• Project BRIDGE, the proposed 90,000-kilometre open-access national fibre backbone aimed at closing connectivity gaps, reducing infrastructure duplication, and lowering wholesale bandwidth costs
• Expansion of digital inclusion and rural connectivity programmes, including Project 774 and initiatives supported by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF)
• Scaling of digital skills development through the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, focused on building capacity in software development, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data, and artificial intelligence
• Advancement of Nigeria’s National AI Strategy, positioning the country early in AI governance, ethics, and adoption across public and private sectors.

Together, these regulatory and policy interventions strengthened the long-term fundamentals of Nigeria’s digital economy. However, their effectiveness ultimately depends on sustained private-sector investment and execution, which the industry continued to provide in 2025 despite operating headwinds.

Why 2026 Is Different: From Endurance to Acceleration

If 2025 was about endurance and consolidation, 2026 must be about execution, speed, and scale.

The outlook for the telecom sector in 2026 is positive, driven by three reinforcing forces: industry-led expansion, regulatory alignment, and rising digital demand.

Industry Ambition and Planned Investment in 2026

In 2026, telecom operators and infrastructure providers are expected to intensify investment across several fronts:

• Accelerating fibre rollout and densification using open-access and wholesale models
• Deepening infrastructure sharing across towers, fibre, and power systems
• Expanding last-mile broadband access through FTTH, FWA, enterprise connectivity, and neutral-host solutions
• Increasing investment in data centres and cloud-ready infrastructure
• Improving network resilience, redundancy, and energy efficiency

These investments are being driven by strong demand signals from fintech, digital payments, cloud services, content platforms, AI workloads, and enterprise customers.

From Policy to Infrastructure Execution

As Project BRIDGE and other backbone initiatives move closer to execution and commercialisation, Nigeria stands to unlock significant wholesale fibre capacity.

This will ease network congestion, reduce rollout costs, and enable ISPs and mobile operators to expand coverage more rapidly, particularly into underserved areas.

Policy, Protection, and the Investment Climate

For 2026 to deliver on its promise, policy execution must match policy intent.

The designation of telecom assets as Critical National Infrastructure was a landmark decision. In 2026, this must translate into visible enforcement – protecting fibre routes, towers, and network facilities through coordinated action involving regulators, security agencies, state governments, and host communities.

Equally critical is Right-of-Way harmonisation and the reduction of multiple taxation. Experience has shown that states that adopt progressive RoW policies benefit from faster rollout, lower costs, and improved service availability.

Replicating these best practices nationally remains one of the fastest ways to unlock additional private-sector investment.

ATCON’s Focus for 2026

As the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria, our priorities for 2026 are clear:

• Champion industry-led infrastructure expansion
• Advocate for open-access networks and fair wholesale pricing
• Support NCC-driven regulatory consistency and QoS enforcement
• Push for RoW harmonisation and effective infrastructure protection
• Strengthen collaboration between industry, regulators, ministries, and security agencies
• Amplify the voice of indigenous operators and infrastructure providers

Telecoms must continue to be treated not merely as a commercial sector, but as strategic national infrastructure essential to economic growth, innovation, and social development.

A Positive Outlook

Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has proven its resilience not in theory, but in practice.

The question for 2026 is no longer whether the industry can survive; it is how quickly it can scale.

With continued industry investment, regulatory stability, and policy execution aligned with market realities, 2026 will mark the beginning of a new phase of accelerated growth, deeper digital inclusion, and stronger digital foundations for Nigeria’s economy.

This was the first decrease in data consumption since February 2024, due to user behaviour changes that the latest report from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) reveals.

The telecommunications sector has fluctuated in data usage over recent months, having previously increased significantly. In earlier months of 2024, the usage figures for July recorded 829,584.47 terabytes, June saw 798,583.81 terabytes, and May accounted for 771,993.56 terabytes, a consistent upward trend before the recent dip.

Amid this decline in Nigeria’s internet usage, MTN Nigeria remains top in the market, with 78,097,681 active subscribers, which represents 50.50% of the total market share. 

Airtel follows with 53,748,688 subscribers, a 34.76% share, while Globacom and 9mobile hold 12.39% and 2.35% of the market, respectively, with subscriber numbers of 19,152,907 and 3,635,160.

The telecommunications sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2024 was 16.36%, an increase from 14.58% in the first quarter. 

Year-on-year comparisons reveal a rise from 16.06% in Q2 2023, as the industry stays resilient with its essential function in driving economic activities across various sectors.

Increased mobile and internet penetration expanded access to digital platforms, enabling higher participation in the digital economy. Continuous investments in infrastructure, including the expansion of network capabilities and the introduction of advanced technologies such as 5G, have further bolstered this sector.

As of September 2024, 5G adoption in Nigeria has risen to 2.19%, up from 2.12% in August. This steady growth reveals an increasing acceptance of 5G technology, which promises enhanced internet speeds and connectivity options.

However, the digital divide remains a big issue. The GSMA reported that by the end of 2023, approximately 120 million Nigerians lacked access to mobile internet, despite living within coverage areas. 

This gap disclosed that while many have the potential for connectivity, actual usage remains low due to various limitations. The high cost of entry-level internet-enabled devices is particularly noteworthy, often consuming a large portion of the average monthly income in low- and medium-income households.

On a global scale, the situation is similar, with 3.45 billion people, or 43% of the world’s population, still lacking access to mobile internet. Affordability and digital literacy continue to hinder mobile internet adoption, especially in developing regions like Nigeria. 

Addressing these challenges will ensure equitable access to digital resources for all Nigerians.

The NCC directive is in response to the increasing number of complaints from consumers who have voiced their dissatisfaction over what they perceive as unfair data consumption rates.

The NCC has mandated an independent audit of the MNOs’ billing systems to ensure transparency and fairness in data usage charges. This audit is expected to shed light on the technicalities behind data consumption and provide insights into how consumers can get the most value out of their data plans.

Again, the commission is launching an educational campaign to provide consumers with knowledge about data management. This initiative will provide valuable tips on how to prevent unwanted data depletion through smartphone settings and data usage monitoring.

Under the guidance of Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, the NCC reaffirms its goal to enhance Nigeria’s digital modification. The commission’s actions align with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which emphasizes the importance of a sustainable digital economy as a cornerstone for national development.

The NCC’s directive is a collaboration with MNOs to enhance the quality of service and ensure that the benefits of digitalization are accessible to all Nigerians.