After maintaining market penetration lead with high subscriber utilisation across networks for close to four years, the market penetration of 4G suddenly dropped to 54.30 per cent in the month of May 2026, after attaining 54.41 per cent in April 2026, statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has revealed.
Before recording a slight market penetration drop in May this year, 4G had maintained a steady lead in market penetration for close to four years, since the launch of 5G in Nigeria in 2022.
As at December 2025, 4G penetration was 52.95 per cent, 2G penetration was 37.37 per cent, 3G penetration was 5.91 per cent, while 5G penetration was just 3.77 per cent, according to the NCC’s statistics, which THISDAY obtained from its website.
The statistics showed that 4G continued to lead in January 2026 with an increased market penetration of 53.41 per cent, followed by 2G with a market penetration of 36.97 per cent and 3G with a market penetration of 5.67 per cent, while 5G had market penetration of 3.94 per cent.
