Telcos Make More From Data As Call Complaints Grow

Nigerian telcos are making more money from data, even as many Nigerians complain that calls are dropping and internet is slow. That is the story from the latest earnings.

This report is based on Guardian Nigeria article "Call quality wanes as telcos record spike in data revenue" published Nov 2, 2026 by Adeyemi Adepetun, plus NCC complaint data.

The rise in data revenue

Two biggest players show the shift clearly.

MTN Nigeria: For 9 months to Sept 30, 2026, MTN reported service revenue of N4.6 trillion, up 23.7% from last year. Total revenue was about N4.7 trillion. Profit after tax jumped 55.3% to N1.17 trillion.

Where did money come from? Data. MTN said data revenue was about N2.68 trillion, up from N1.97 trillion same period last year. That is more than voice now. In fact, since NCC approved 50% tariff hike in Jan 2025 - average 1GB moved from ~N287 to N431 - data price went up and bundles changed.

Data users grew too. MTN active data users rose 12% to 57.2 million out of 94.7 million total subscribers. Average usage is now 15.3 GB per month per user, up from 12.8 GB last year. MTN said data traffic grew 46.4%. They spent N864.8 billion on capital expenditure (towers, fibre) excluding leases, up 14.2%.

Airtel Africa: Its half-year results (April-Sept 2026) cover 14 countries but Nigeria is biggest. Group revenue was $3.823 billion, up 28.2%. Data customers across group are 89.9 million, using 13.3 GB per month on average, up from 10.1 GB last year. Airtel Nigeria alone spent about N287.6 billion ($211m) on 4G/5G in first half of 2026.

So the pattern: Nigerians are buying more data, using more GB, even at higher prices. Telcos are investing N1.7 trillion combined (MTN N864.8bn + Airtel $657m) but data is now the main profit branch, not voice.

The complaints about service quality

Same time money is rising, complaints are rising.

NCC said between January and September 2026, operators had 44,678 fibre cuts, 17,462 cable degradations, 9,283 vandalism cases, plus 23,954 cases of denied access to telecom sites, 17,482 due to insecurity.

For customers, result is dropped calls, failed call setup, slow browsing at peak hours.

In first half of 2026, NCC recorded 413,587 consumer complaints: 228,992 against Airtel, 124,405 against MTN, 56,810 against Glo, 3,885 against T2 (ex-9mobile). Between April and September, another report says over 214,000 complaints specifically about poor network quality - dropped calls and slow internet.

It got so bad that House of Representatives summoned CEOs of MTN, Airtel, Glo, Mafab to appear by October 28, 2026. Chairman Olumide Osoba said businesses depend on network for POS transactions, not just calls. NCC also introduced in April 2026 a rule for automatic airtime compensation when service falls below standard. By October 20, NCC said 75 million subscribers had received compensation, and nearly 3 million got refunds for failed airtime/data purchases.

And on Oct 8, MTN had a 5-hour outage in Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Delta and FCT - customers could not make calls or do transfers.

So money up, quality down - that is why people are upset.

What this means for everyday users

Three things for you:

1. You pay more for data, but you also use more. Average user now does 15 GB per month because of video, TikTok, WhatsApp calls. So even if price per GB is higher, you burn through faster. Check your phone data usage page - you may be on 4G streaming at 1080p without knowing.

2. Voice quality may not improve quickly. Telcos spend more on 4G/5G for data, not 2G/3G for voice. Plus data growth congests cells at busy hours (7pm-11pm). Your call may drop because same tower is handling many data users. If call is important, try early morning or use VoLTE if your phone supports it - often clearer.

3. You have some rights now. With NCC's compensation framework, if you are in an area where service is below standard, you should get automatic airtime. If you don't, log complaint via NCC toll-free 622 or Airtel's new Open Network portal where you can see tower coverage and report issue. Keep screenshots of failed transactions - NCC said they track refunds.

In short, telcos are now data companies that also do calls. Their balance sheet likes data. Your experience still depends on whether your street has enough towers and no fibre cut that week.