The 3% data guzzlers: How a tiny 5G user base is dominating Kenya’s internet usage

Industry data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) shows that 5G accounts for 2.10 million subscriptions out of 64.26 million total mobile data connections, about 3.27% of all data users in the East African country as of June 2026. By contrast, 4G dominates the market with 48.31 million users, translating to 75%. 

The data comes at a time when 5G rollout lags behind that of most African countries. The gap is attributed to factors including coverage gaps, absence of adequate funding, vandalism, frequent network outages and the cost of 5G-enabled devices. 

While the affordability of 5G-enabled devices is improving, limited network availability and coverage can still constrain the experience for users.

Across leading African countries in data consumption, network enhancement, and economic strength, the share of 5G among internet users remains minimal. For instance, industry data reveals that only 4.74% of Nigeria’s 195.1 million telecom subscribers are captured under the network as of July 2026. 

Commercial 5G rollout is expanding across several African markets, although deployment remains uneven. Ghana, for example, is currently progressing through a competitive 5G spectrum licensing process.

Individual subscribers, businesses and enterprises are demanding high-speed data to power financial services, retail, manufacturing, and logistics by leveraging 5G to handle data-intensive operations, cloud services, and digital payments. This accounts for the broader push, depicting how demand for internet speed continued to outweigh its supply. 

Also read: Nigeria’s 5G coverage gap leaves millions of capable devices unconnected, even in its top three cities.

Data from Kenya shows what 5G holds

5G might still hold a small fraction of the connectivity market, but recent industry data by the Kenyan Communications regulator has shown how the services drive a noticeable percentage of internet data consumption.

Despite holding approximately 3.3% of Kenyan users, 5G generated 135.38 million gigabytes (GB) of traffic in Q2 2026 alone, up from 43.86 million GB in Q2 2025, signalling a 208% year-on-year (YoY) spike.

On average, a single 5G subscriber consumes about 64.4 GB per month, compared to 15.8 GB on 4G and 8.3 GB on 3G. This shows that while the service is overpowered in terms of users, 5G subscribers consume over 4 times more data than the average 4G user. 

The drivers of this data usage are familiar. 

The network’s adoption in the market is driven by a group of high data users, enterprise consumers and its high speed. While 5G devices such as flagship smartphones, routers or Fixed Wireless Access remain premium items, subscribers who own them typically engage in high-bandwidth activities, including 4K/8K video streaming, cloud gaming, and automated background downloads.

In addition, higher bandwidth allows apps to pull higher-resolution media by default, in terms of  HD video ads and uncompressed social media feeds. Moreover, subscribers download files or stream content frequently, which naturally leads to overall higher consumption within the same session time.

For telecom operators, the drive is a plus to their revenue bank as high-volume consumption translates directly into larger data bundle purchases, which makes 5G subscribers the most profitable segment per line.

Takeaways for Nigeria 

While statistics that capture data consumption per service are not made available by the Nigerian Communications Commission, available data shows a significant increase in internet data consumption. 

As of January 2026, Nigerians consumed 1.38 million terabytes of data, compared to the 1 million terabytes consumed in January 2025. The increase is notably attributed to the rise in 5G network expansion and adoption of supported devices. 

As of July 2026, monthly data usage reached its highest yet at 1.67 million terabytes, with the consumption expected to cross 2 million terabytes before the end of 2026. 

The data comes as leading operators such as MTN and Airtel Nigeria are actively expanding their 5G network infrastructure and mast deployments across major urban centres in Nigeria. Both operators rolled out plans to double their 5G sites across major cities, including deploying small-cell solutions and mini-antennas in high-traffic zones to support surging data demands. 

MTN and Airtel have seen their expenditure on infrastructure rollout and network upgrades increase. In H1 2026, MTN reportedly spent ₦620.5 billion on capex, while Airtel claimed it spent ₦287.6 billion ($211 million) on 4G/5G tower deployment and necessary investments. 

However, the perception that 5G burns data faster can be structurally accurate in terms of its volume and faster speeds that remove the throttling bottleneck. This allows devices and apps to pull maximum data quality effortlessly.

Also read: Analysis: Nigerians spent ₦7 trillion on data during the first six months of 2026.