Namibia’s telecommunications sector generated N$944 million in data revenue during the second quarter of 2026, as rising social media use and mobile data consumption continued to drive demand for internet services.
The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) said data revenue, excluding Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), increased from N$935 million in the first quarter and N$876 million during the same period in 2025.
The latest figure represents an increase of 7.8% year on year and is significantly above the N$702 million recorded in the second quarter of 2024.
“Data and SMS revenue remained largely stable in Q2 2026, recording a marginal increase of 1%. Data continued to account for the largest share of telecommunications revenue, highlighting its growing importance to the sector,” CRAN said in its Quarterly Statistics Bulletin for April to June 2026.
The increase comes as overall mobile data consumption rose by 11% during the quarter, accompanied by an 11% increase in social media usage.
TikTok recorded the strongest growth among major platforms, with usage increasing by 21%, followed by YouTube at 15% and Instagram at 9%. WhatsApp usage increased by 5%, while Facebook recorded growth of 1%.
“The broad-based growth across the major platforms suggests that social media continues to play an increasingly important role in internet usage, with video-focused platforms such as TikTok and YouTube showing particularly strong growth,” CRAN said.
Among telecommunications operators, Paratus recorded the strongest growth in mobile data usage at 21%, followed by MTC at 11% and Telecom Namibia at 6%.
Data has become an increasingly important revenue source for Namibia’s telecommunications operators, with quarterly revenue rising from N$702 million in the second quarter of 2024 to N$944 million two years later.
Data revenue stood at N$694 million in the third quarter of 2024 before increasing to N$800 million in the fourth quarter. It reached N$831 million in the first quarter of 2025, N$876 million in the second quarter, N$928 million in the third quarter and N$934 million in the fourth quarter.
Voice revenue also increased during the latest quarter, rising by 23% to N$138 million from N$112 million in the first quarter of 2026. CRAN attributed the increase mainly to a 29% recovery in domestic voice revenue.
SMS revenue remained relatively stable at N$31 million compared with N$30 million in the previous quarter, despite SMS traffic declining by 15%.
CRAN said the sector continues to show a shift from traditional telecommunications services towards data-based communication.
Paratus recorded a 10% increase in VoIP traffic, driven mainly by a 25% increase in off-net mobile minutes, while Telecom Namibia’s fixed-line outgoing traffic declined by 4%.
“The continued growth in VoIP traffic, compared with the decline in traditional fixed-line traffic, suggests a gradual shift in consumer preference towards VoIP services,” CRAN said.
Fixed broadband subscriptions increased by 1% during the quarter, with wireless broadband subscriptions rising by 42% and MetroNet subscriptions increasing by 23%, although both continued to account for a relatively small share of total fixed broadband connections.
Fibre subscriptions also continued to increase, while ADSL subscriptions declined by 2%.
Mobile broadband subscriptions increased by 2%, while dongle and router subscriptions declined by 7%. The proportion of active SIM cards accessing the internet remained unchanged at 64%.
Total active SIM card subscriptions increased by 2%, largely due to growth in prepaid subscriptions, while postpaid subscriptions remained broadly unchanged.
MTC and Telecom Namibia continued to account for the majority of active SIM cards, while Paratus recorded the strongest quarterly subscriber growth at 11%, compared with approximately 2% growth for both MTC and Telecom Namibia
