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If your data has felt like it disappears faster than it used to, the price went up under you. The Nigerian Communications Commission approved a 50% telecom tariff hike in 2026 — the first increase of its kind in roughly eleven years — and average data pricing has moved toward ₦525 per GB, up from around ₦350, according to Techpoint Africa. Voice and SMS moved too: calls from roughly ₦11 to ₦16.50 a minute, SMS from ₦4 to ₦6.

The regulator's consumer-protection arm, the FCCPC, has since demanded visible service improvements in exchange for the higher prices — calling it non-negotiable. Whether that materialises is a separate question. What is certain is the bill you are paying now.

The one habit that actually saves money: price per GB, not the sticker price

A ₦400 1GB bundle and a ₦29,000 300GB monthly plan are not the same shape of purchase — the second one can work out to a fraction of the cost per gigabyte, because network operators and resellers price small bundles at a premium for convenience. The habit worth building is dividing price by GB before buying, not comparing sticker prices.

Here is one real, current example — Glo's own tiered bundles, where the per-GB rate barely moves, so what actually saves you money is buying only what you need and not letting a bundle expire half-used:

Live prices, read at publish time — check absvendor.com for today's rate before buying. Other networks' bundles do show real economies of scale where a larger plan's per-GB rate drops sharply — the point stands regardless of which one you are comparing: do the division before you decide.

Four other ways to spend less without going without data

1. Use the night/bonus data most bundles already include. A lot of current plans bundle in 2–3GB of night-only or YouTube-only data at no extra cost — schedule big downloads and updates for that window instead of burning your main allowance on them.
2. Do not let airtime sit and lose value to inflation. Airtime you are not going to spend on calls can be converted straight to wallet cash and put toward a data bundle instead — see how to convert MTN airtime to cash.
3. If you are a heavy household user, run the unlimited-home-internet math. Someone regularly buying ₦5,000+ of mobile data a month is often close to, or past, the cost of an unlimited FibreX line at ₦29,000/month with no cap at all. It will not suit everyone — FibreX is not available everywhere, see how to check coverage — but it is worth doing the sum rather than assuming mobile data is automatically cheaper.
4. Buy from a reseller with a live, discounted catalogue rather than walk-in/USSD price. Rates move; check what is actually current rather than assuming last month's price still holds.

Questions people ask

Is the tariff hike permanent?
It was approved by the regulator as the new baseline, not a temporary surge — there is no announced expiry.

Did all networks raise prices by exactly 50%?
The NCC has stated the increase is "not across the board" — the exact figure varies by operator and plan. Compare current prices rather than assuming a flat 50% everywhere.

Will service actually improve now that prices are higher?
The consumer regulator (FCCPC) has demanded it publicly. Whether it shows up as fewer outages is something only time will answer — see our piece on why FibreX specifically keeps disconnecting for the infrastructure side of that question.

Is buying data from a reseller actually cheaper than going direct?
Compare the live price shown before you pay — that is the only honest way to check, on any platform, including ours.

Related

• Why MTN FibreX keeps disconnecting
• Convert unused airtime to cash
• See today's data prices

Full disclosure: ABS Vendor sells data, FibreX and 5G ODU renewals. The news figures below are cited from independent reporting, linked at each claim, not measured by us.