BY NGOZI ONYEAKUSI

The latest industry statistics published by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has shown that internet data consumption in Nigeria declined by 17,647 terabytes between January and April 2025, following the implementation of a new tariff regime that saw the cost of telecommunications services rise significantly.

According to NCC total internet usage dropped from 1,000,930.60 terabytes in January to 983,283.43 terabytes in April, representing a 1.76 per cent decrease over the three-month period.

The decline follows a 50 per cent tariff increase approved by the NCC in February, which pushed the average cost of 1GB of data from N287.50 to N431.25 in response to rising inflation, foreign exchange volatility, and surging energy costs affecting telecom operators.

A month-on-month breakdown of the data shows a sharp drop in usage immediately after the tariff was introduced. In February, internet consumption fell to 893,054.80 terabytes, representing a 10.8 per cent decline from the January figure.

This was followed by a rebound in March,