4G grows by 15% to overtake 2G as Nigeria’s leading mobile generation

Key takeaways

The share of 2G has fallen from 60% to 42% in one year.
4G has seen the largest increase among all mobile generations, making it the market leader.
3G has shrunk by 0.5% points while 5G grew by 1.4% over the same period.

In October 2023, Nigeria's telecommunications market was dominated by 2G networks, which held a commanding 60% of the market share. This reflected a continued reliance on older mobile technology, despite the availability of more advanced options.

By October 2024, 4G networks had grown significantly, capturing 43.6% of the market and surpassing 2G as the leading mobile generation. This nearly 50% growth in 4G adoption signals a major shift toward faster and more reliable connectivity, driven by increasing demand for modern telecommunications services.

While 3G saw a slight dip from 9.9% to 9.4%, 5G began to make its mark with a modest 2.3% share by October 2024. The transition from 2G to 4G demonstrates the industry's evolution, with 5G adoption expected to grow as deployment expands in the coming years.

Source:

Nigerian Communications Commission

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://intelpoint.co/insights/4g-grows-by-15-to-overtake-2g-as-nigerias-leading-mobile-generation/" title="4G grows by 15% to overtake 2G as Nigeria’s leading mobile generation"><img src="https://intelpoint.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Year-on-year-shift-in-mobile-network-generations.webp" style="width: 80%; height: auto; max-width:960px;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; margin: 0 auto; display: block;" alt="Chart: 4G grows by 15% to overtake 2G as Nigeria’s leading mobile generation"/></a><br><span>Find more insights at <a href="https://intelpoint.co/insights?utm_source=Insight%20Embed&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=4G+grows+by+15%25+to+overtake+2G+as+Nigeria%E2%80%99s+leading+mobile+generation" target="_blank" style="color: #4f9acc; text-decoration: none;">Intelpoint</a>.</span></div>Copied to clipboard!

Period:

2023-2024

HTML code to embed chart

Want a bespoke report?

Reach out

Related Insights

Fibre cuts caused 52% of mobile network outages in Nigeria between April and July 2025

Fibre cuts were responsible for 51.7% of mobile network disruptions between April and July 2025.
Power outages followed at 28.1%, making infrastructure issues the dominant cause overall.
Together, fibre cuts and power outages accounted for nearly 80% of service disruptions.
The “Others” category, which includes congestion, equipment theft, and natural disasters, accounted for 13.9% of disruptions.
Infrastructure and environmental factors remain the leading threats to mobile network reliability.

Samsung leads Ghana’s smartphone market with 26.4% share, followed by Tecno (17.7%) and Apple (17.4%)

Samsung dominates with 26.42% of Ghana’s smartphone market, making it the clear leader.
Tecno (17.7%) and Apple (17.4%) are in a tight race for second place, separated by just 0.3 percentage points.
Infinix (10.5%) and Itel (5.2%) highlight the strong presence of Transsion Holdings brands in Ghana.
Global giants like Huawei (6.8%) and Xiaomi (2.5%) lag behind, showing Ghana’s preference for budget-friendly African-focused brands.

Samsung commands over half of South Africa’s smartphone market at 51.5% as of July 2025

Samsung controls more than half of the South African smartphone market, more than all other brands combined.
Apple holds 17.61%, less than half of Samsung’s share, but remains the clear premium alternative.
Despite global challenges, Huawei captures 10.03%, placing third in the market.
Honor, Xiaomi, and Oppo collectively hold approximately 11.6%, while smaller brands like Tecno, Itel, and Nokia struggle below 2% each.

From Etisalat to 9mobile to T2: How debt, ownership battles, and weak investment crashed a telecom giant from 23M to 2M subscribers

Subscriptions peaked at 23.5 million in 2015 before a long decline.
The 2017 debt crisis and Etisalat UAE’s exit triggered sustained losses.
By mid-2025, active lines had plunged to 2.4 million, the steepest fall in the sector.
In August 2025, the firm rebranded as T2, unveiling a new plan to stabilise and grow again

9mobile’s half-year net porting loss jumped from over 5,100 in 2021 to nearly 28,800 in 2024

From H2 2013 to H1 2020, 9mobile gained more subscribers from other networks than it lost.
From H2 2021 onward, more subscribers left 9mobile for other networks than joined.
Net half-year losses grew from about 5,143 in H2 2021 to 28,735 in H2 2024.
Outgoing ports peaked at 28,885 in H2 2024, the highest half-year total on record.

Average monthly data use in Nigeria now exceeds 7GB per active internet subscription

Per-user data usage more than doubled in 29 months.
The surge [was] driven by heavier usage, not more users.
February dips and year-end spikes show seasonal habits.
2024 marked a lasting shift to higher monthly data use.