New Telegraph

5G subscribers in Nigeria, SA, others to reach 41m in 2025

In Nigeria and other sub- Sahara African countries, the number of subscribers to 5G network is projected to be 41 million by 2025. The projection is contained in a report by the GSM Association otherwise known as GSMA, which noted that there would be nearly 100 million additional mobile subscribers in sub-Saharan Africa by 2025, with Nigeria and Ethiopia, accounting for almost a third of these new mobile subscribers.

The research body stated that there will be 613 million unique subscribers by 2025 rising from 515 million in 2021, to cover 50 per cent of the population while 5G will only account for 41 million subscribers, a merger four per cent of the total connection. 4G network connection is expected to increase from 17 per cent in 2021 to 33 per cent in 2025. By 2025, 5G will account for four per cent of total connections in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to the global average of 25 per cent. According to the report, mobile data consumption in sub-Saharan Africa will nearly quadruple by 2027, though it will continue to lag behind global average by a wide margin.

Adoption of 4G is picking and is expected to overtake 2G in 2023, as 3G adoption reached its peak in 2022. According to the data, there will be 1.09 billion million SIM connections (excluding licensed cellular IoT) in 2025, increasing from 917 million in 2021 across the Sub-Saharan Africa, pushing the penetration rate to 89 per cent in 2025 from 82 per cent in 2021. Again, smartphones are projected to account for 61 per cent of total connections in 2025, rising from 49 per cent in 2021. Smartphones will increase to 64 per cent in Nigeria in 2025 from 44 per cent in 2021. It was also stated that operator revenue and investment would increase from $46.6 billion in 2021 to 57.4 billion in 2025, while mobile operators will invest nearly $30 billion in their networks between 2022 and 2025. In sub-Saharan Africa, 40 per cent of the adult population are now connected to mobile internet services.

The body reported that mobile connectivity was at the centre of the Covid-19 response in Sub-Saharan Africa. During the pandemic, mobile acted as a critical lifeline for consumers. As the predominant form of connectivity in the region, the vast majority of services that moved online amid lockdown measures utilised mobile networks to reach end users.

The mobile industry has also continued to bring connectivity to people and invest in network coverage and capacity expansion to help people interact with the communities and environment around them. As countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world transition into a post-pandemic economic recovery phase, mobile connectivity is set to play a crucial role in defining the ‘new normal.’ Authorities see an opportunity to leverage digital technology and services to build economies that are more resilient to future shocks, enhance productivity and efficiency in service delivery, and ensure more inclusive socioeconomic development. However, another 44 per cent live in areas covered by mobile broadband networks but do not yet use mobile internet services (the usage gap). Addressing the main barriers to mobile internet adoption for these people, including affordability and digital skills should be a priority for stakeholders in order to realise the potential of mobile connectivity to drive economic growth and development in a post-pandemic world. Meanwhile, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), MTN Group, Ralph Mupita, said Nigeria is expected to have 40 per cent 5G network connection by 2025 with expansion to other cities accross the country. “We expect 40 per cent of Nigerians to be connected to the technology by 2025, with the huge investments MTN has made and would still make in the deployment of 5G. “We believe that 5G network is for Africa and Africans, and we are ensuring that we didn’t build an inferior infrastructure, but one that can satisfy the entire region. It must be noted that investing in digital infrastructure remains critical to unlocking the future and countries must invest,” he said. Mupita said sooner, about five years from now, 5G would enable economies, including Nigeria, South Africa and other countries in the region, to accelerate their development. MTN Nigerian Chief Executive Officer, Karl Toriola, infirmed that 5G would consume more data than others networks. “Let me also caution you, if you do a speed test, it consumes about 1.2G of data, this is just to inform people: it is not MTN that is taking the data, but the application,” he noted. According to him, the faster the network, the more data to be consumed, adding that this is the nature of high-speed quality data network.

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