Namibia's telecommunications sector has seen a significant surge in data services revenue, with N$944 million generated in the second quarter of 2026. This makes data services the largest source of income for the sector, according to the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (Cran). The total telecommunications revenue for the quarter was N$1.9 billion, a 12% increase from the previous quarter.
The growth in data services revenue is attributed to increasing mobile data usage, which rose to 30.8 million gigabytes (GB) in the second quarter, an 11% increase from the previous quarter. This brings the total cost of data consumed by Namibians in six months to N$3.5 billion. Cran's statistics show that data continued to generate the largest share of telecommunications revenue during the quarter.
While data remains the biggest source of revenue, voice services recorded the strongest growth during the quarter. Voice revenue increased from N$112 million in the first quarter to N$138 million in the second quarter, a 23% increase. Cran attributed the increase mainly to a recovery in domestic voice traffic, with a 29% recovery in domestic voice revenue.
The number of active SIM cards in Namibia increased by 2% to 2.79 million during the quarter. Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) and Telecom Namibia continue to hold most of the country's active SIM cards, but Paratus Telecommunications recorded the fastest growth in subscriptions, with an 11% increase. This suggests a gradual broadening of competition in the mobile market, according to Cran.
Paratus also recorded the fastest growth in data use among the three operators, with a 21% increase in data traffic. This compares with 11% for MTC and 6% for Telecom Namibia. The growth in data use is driven by increasing use of mobile networks for social media, video streaming, and messaging.
TikTok recorded the largest increase among major social media platforms, with consumption rising by 21% on MTC's network. TikTok alone accounted for about 8.99 million GB of data consumption during the quarter. Other platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, also recorded significant increases in data consumption.
The broad-based growth in social media usage shows that it is becoming an increasingly important part of internet usage in Namibia. Video-focused platforms, such as TikTok and YouTube, continue to drive growth, with YouTube accounting for about 4.37 million GB and WhatsApp recording about 7.09 million GB of data consumption during the quarter.
Key points
- Data services generated N$944 million in revenue in Q2 2026, the largest source of income for Namibia's telecommunications sector.
- Mobile data usage rose to 30.8 million GB in Q2 2026, an 11% increase from the previous quarter.
- TikTok recorded the largest increase among major social media platforms, with consumption rising by 21% on MTC's network.
