Nigerians utilised 721,522 terabytes of data in January of this year, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC).
The Commission noted that this is the most consumed data in a month since it began publishing statistics.
Data usage in the country was high in December 2023 due to increased activity during the holiday season, reaching 713,200 terabytes, but this was still lower than the January record.
An increase in data consumption in January was recorded despite a decline in the number of internet users for the month.
According to NCC’s data, internet subscriptions in Nigeria declined by 1.9 million from 163.8 million in December 2023 to 161.9 million in January 2024.
Meanwhile, the Commission has mandated telecommunications operators in the country to disconnect all phone lines of subscribers who have not linked their National Identification Numbers, (NIN), with their SIM cards.
The disconnections are set to take place on Friday, March 29, 2024, following a directive from the NCC mandating all registered SIMs without proper NIN linkage to be either corrected or completely disconnected from networks.
The NIN-SIM linkage process, which began on February 28, 2024, is part of the government’s initiative to combat criminal activities such as banditry and kidnapping, ultimately bolstering national security.
There are hints of a potential third phase in April 2024.
