The average traffic per smartphone will reach 9 gigabytes per month in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries in 2026 according to ‘Ericsson Mobility Report.’

The report also states that average traffic per smartphone in North Africa and the Middle Eastern region is expected to reach 32GB per month in 2026. It said in Western Europe, the average traffic per smartphone would reach 47GB per month in 2026 and 48GB in North America.

It said South East Asia and Oceania would have the fastest-growing data traffic per smartphone rate globally, reaching 39GB per month by 2026. Latin America is expected to reach 30GB per month in 2026, while that of Central and Eastern Europe is expected to increase from 7.2GB to 29GB per month.

It said it was important to bear in mind that there were significant variations in monthly data consumption within regions, with individual countries and service providers having considerably higher monthly consumption than regional averages sometimes.

According to GSMA’s ‘The Mobile Economy 2021’ report, smartphone adoption will grow by 64 per cent in 2025.

It said the report added that for many potential mobile internet users in the region, a $20 phone represented a significant one-off cost.

The GSMA report said the median cost of an entry-level internet-enabled handset represented more than 120 per cent of monthly income for the poorest 20 per cent of the population in 2019.

The report advocated the reduction in the price of smartphones to increase affordable access to devices.