Call quality wanes as telcos record spike in data revenue

MTN records 55.3% increase in PAT as Airtel earns $452m

Amid growing complaints about deteriorating voice call quality, poor data offering, and network congestion, Africa’s biggest telecom operators are cashing in on data consumption.

MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa’s latest earnings reports as of September 30, 2026 (Q3 and H1 respectively) showed that while traditional telephone services struggled to maintain reliability, surging demand for Internet connectivity is transforming their balance sheets. From streaming and social media to mobile payments, the continent’s digital appetite is rewriting the revenue story for telcos.

Checks by The Guardian showed that as of August 2026, Nigerians have consumed 1.75 million terabytes of data. As it is, Nigerians currently consume an average of about 14.8 GB of mobile data per subscriber each month. Daily consumption now stands at roughly 45,800 terabytes, equivalent to more than 15 million hours of HD video streaming every day.

While the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has charged the operators with the need to improve services across the country, the House of Representatives has issued arrest summons for chief executives of telecommunications companies after they failed to honour an invitation to appear before its committee investigating the quality of services in the sector.

The lawmakers took the decision last week after rejecting the chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, whom the companies sent to represent them.

The ad hoc committee, chaired by Rep. Olumide Osoba (APC-Ogun), directed that the chief executives and other top management officials of licensed operators appear before it on November 4, 2026.

Indeed, MTN Nigeria reported a 23.6 per cent jump in revenue to N4.61 trillion in the nine months to September 2026, while Airtel Africa’s half‑year revenue climbed 28.2 per cent to $3.82 billion.

Both companies credited data services as the primary growth engine, with Airtel’s data revenue soaring 35.3 per cent and MTN’s EBITDA rising 36.8 per cent on the back of higher smartphone penetration and heavier data usage per customer.

In effect, even as subscribers lament call drops and poor voice quality, operators are earning more than ever from the continent’s booming digital consumption.

Commenting on the report, MTN Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, said, “Growth is increasingly volume-led, driven by more users, deeper data adoption, higher usage and rising demand for home broadband, supported by continued investment in network coverage, capacity and quality.

“In fintech, core mobile money revenue more than doubled, up 102.2 per cent, while our airtime and data credit service continued to recover following its resumption under a multi-partner model, with revenue up 78.5 per cent on Q2. We continue to deliver on our efficiency programme, expanding margins and strengthening cash generation despite energy cost pressures, and these gains are increasingly structural.”