MTN Nigeria has extended its 4G network to encompass 81.5% of the population, marking an increase from the 79.1% coverage recorded in December 2022, as per the telecom giant’s recently released 2023 audited financial statement.
This expansion means that a significant portion of the country’s regions and inhabitants, including MTN subscribers and others, now have access to MTN’s 4G connectivity. The company reaffirmed its dedication to enhancing connectivity through substantial investments in network coverage and capacity.
Highlighting the role of the 4G network in bolstering data services, MTN stressed its impact as a primary driver in increasing smartphone penetration, which saw a rise to 55.6%, marking a 3.1 percentage point year-on-year increase.
In its report, MTN stated, “Our 4G network now covers 81.5% of the population, up from 79.1% in December 2022, and 5G at 11.3%. On the back of these initiatives, smartphone penetration rose to 55.6% (up 3.1pp YoY), underpinning data usage (GB per user) growth of 29.1% to 8.6GB.”
The company noted a significant 44.9% growth in data traffic, with the 4G network accounting for 81.8% of the total traffic and 5G at 5.2%.
MTN also emphasized its efforts to enhance home broadband penetration to meet the increasing demands of digital adoption. In 2023, the company surpassed the 2 million subscriber milestone by successfully adding over 800,000 subscribers to its home broadband services.
“We expanded home broadband penetration to support the growing use cases for digital adoption, leveraging our 5G fixed wireless access devices, mobile broadband solutions, and fibre-to-the-home connectivity,” MTN stated.
Since winning the frequency spectrum license for the 2.6GHz band in 2016, MTN Nigeria has been at the forefront of delivering global mobile broadband and LTE 4G services to over 60 million customers. With over 77 million subscribers, the company remains a key player in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.
