A joint report from 5G Americas and Omdia projects that global 5G connections will hit 9 billion by 2030, a sharp rise from the 2.6 billion connections recorded by mid-2025.
This represents a 37% annual growth, underscoring the rapid adoption of next-generation mobile networks.
The study notes that 5G will account for about 60% of all mobile connections worldwide by 2030, fueled by growing data usage—up 15% year-on-year to 384 million terabytes in Q2 2025. North America leads adoption with 339 million 5G users, consuming an average of 111GB of data monthly per person.
Meanwhile, Nigeria is gradually scaling its 5G footprint. Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) shows that subscriptions rose to 5.7 million in August 2025, representing 3.3% of the country’s 171.6 million total mobile subscribers. This growth aligns with an increase in 4G adoption, which now accounts for 51.2% of connections, while 2G and 3G usage continues to decline.
Broadband penetration also inched up from 48.0% in July to 48.8% in August, with 105.2 million Nigerians now connected to high-speed internet.
Analysts expect Nigeria’s 5G subscriptions to surpass 10 million by 2027 as operators like MTN and Airtel expand coverage in major cities. However, rural areas remain heavily reliant on 2G, highlighting the challenge of bridging the urban-rural digital divide.
Globally, the rise of 5G is driving the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT), with connections projected to grow from 3.8 billion in Q2 2025 to 5 billion by 2030. Experts, including Viet Nguyen of 5G Americas and Kristin Paulin of Omdia, stress that 5G is evolving into the backbone of IoT, powering applications such as smart factories, telemedicine, and autonomous logistics.
