MTN Nigeria has announced a 54.7 per cent growth in data revenue for the first half of 2024, driven by an expansion in its user base and increased data usage.

This was disclosed in the company’s financial results for the period ending June 2024, released recently.

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The growth in data revenue was supported by enhancements in service quality and a strong demand for data services.

The telecom operator revealed that it also implemented price optimisation across some of its data bundle offerings in Q4 2023, which contributed to the surge in data revenue.

The company’s user base expansion was reflected in its 4G network population coverage, which reached 82 per cent, up marginally by 0.5 per cent from December 2023.

Additionally, 5G coverage increased to 12.7 per cent, up by 1.5 per cent.

“We are pleased with the strong commercial momentum in our connectivity business and platforms, supported by the growth in the user base, which has enabled us to deliver service revenue growth of 32.6 per cent.

“This growth was bolstered by some favourable base effects (particularly in Q1) but underscored the resilience in the demand for our data, voice, fintech and digital services, each delivering double-digit growth,” the report highlighted.

Smartphone penetration also rose to 55.9 per cent, up by 2.9 per cent year-on-year, driving strong data usage growth of 30.5 per cent to 10.6 GB per user.

Data traffic growth was equally impressive, rising by 42.6 per cent, the report added.