By: Nghiinomenwa-vali Hangala
Namibians have consumed 6.9 million gigabytes (GB) watching and posting on TikTok between October and December 2025.
This is according to the Quarterly Statistics Bulletin for the last quarter of 2025 (Q4), which provided an overview of market performance and emerging trends across Namibia’s telecommunications.
The Communication Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) has noted that mobile broadband subscriptions also increased by 4%, with handset-based broadband showing consistent increases.
“Social media usage remained robust, with TikTok recording the highest consumption levels, followed by WhatsApp and Facebook,” according to CRAN.
During the same period, Namibians have used 6.8 million GB of data on WhatsApp, followed by Facebook in third, consuming 5.6 million GB of Namibians’ data. Facebook topped the data consumption list from 2023 to the last quarter of 2025.
The regulator has also noted that despite growth in mobile broadband, the share of SIM cards used for internet access remained steady at 62%, implying that overall subscriber growth lightly outpaced internet adoption during Q4 2025.
Internet usage through dongle and router subscriptions expanded by 10%, but from a lower base, pointing to sustained demand for mobile-fixed-wireless alternatives, explained CRAN.
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) subscriptions declined by 2%, suggesting possible consolidation in enterprise Internet of Things (IoT) deployments, revealed the quarterly report .
The increase in data usage has also continued to drive telecommunication revenue with mobile revenue growth, increasing from N$928 million made in the third quarter of 2025 to N$934 million in the fourth quarter.
The close revenue stream for telecommunication comes from voice, which generated N$128 million from N$119 million generated in the 3rd quarter of 2025.
According to Mufaro Nesongano, Executive for Communication and Consumer Relations at CRAN, “the total number of active SIM cards increased by 4%, rising from 2.674 million in Quarter 3 to 2.788 million in Quarter 4 of 2025.”
He indicated that the SIM Card growth was driven by a 5% increase in prepaid subscriptions, while postpaid subscriptions recorded a marginal 1% increase, reflecting the continued consumer preference for prepaid mobile services.
In the same quarter, mobile voice traffic remained largely stable, indicating a continued plateau in traditional voice services as consumers increasingly rely on data-driven communication platforms, added Nesongano.
Fixed broadband connectivity, however, continued to expand, with fixed internet subscriptions increasing by 8%, driven primarily by the ongoing rollout and adoption of fibre and fixed wireless technologies.
In the cybersecurity domain, reported cyber-threat events declined by approximately 53% in the fourth quarter of 2025.
However, exposure levels and underlying vulnerabilities remained unchanged, suggesting that the decline may be attributed to changes in threat visibility, such as shifts in scanning campaigns, rather than a reduction in overall cyber risk.
erastus@thevillager.com.na
